How To Protect Yourself From Identity Theft
There are several different things that can be considered identity theft – the fraudulent use of someone else’s credit card, seeking employment in someone else’s name and running up bills using another peron’s name, for example. Unfortunately, the victims of identity theft are often held responsible for debts or other problems that are created. For this reason, you should follow some easy guidelines to protect yourself.
The first step to protecting yourself is to be able to recognize different types of identity theft and how they happen. Check your credit rating regularly and watch your bills and statements for errors or unusual activity. Plus, consider the following:
- Never give out personal information unless it is to someone that is well known and trusted to you
- Always shred any documents that contain personal information before you throw them out
- Social security cards and numbers are extremely important as a person can easily work in someone else’s name fraudulently. Never have a social security or driver’s license number printed on a check book, instead memorize the numbers
- Never freely carry around important documentation and numbers as they could easily be stolen
- Think about taking your details out of the phonebook
- Cancel and destroy all credit cards that you do not use
- If your wallet or purse is stolen, contact all financial institutions you’ve accounts with
You can also help protect yourself by keeping important documents locked away in a safe at home or a safety deposit box at your bank. Never share your personal information through unsolicited email or phone calls. If you are traveling, leave a copy of your identification with someone you can contact in case the originals are stolen or lost.
Protecting Yourself Against Identity Theft Online
Tips for protection against on the internet identity theft are relatively simple. Always keep the personal protected from viruses and hacking using high quality antivirus and spyware programs which are updated regularly. Change passwords frequently and make them as hard to figure out as possible using combinations of letters and numbers. Never answer emails requesting account information, passwords or credit card details. Before entering bank or credit card information, verify that the website is authentic and safe to use as it could easily be a fake.
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