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Don't Become a Victim of Identity Theft
According to studies, there were around 10 million American victims of identity
theft in the year 2003 alone. That was 6 years ago and the numbers are still rising
steadily.
People who find themselves victim to this kind of crime will pay a lot personally and
financially to recover their mental health and credit. Not only have they been taken
advantage of, they also have to endure long hours of trying to clear up their name once again.
Since this crime does not show any signs of being stopped soon, early detection
is the only solution. You would not want someone tampering with the credit
rating you have worked so hard for, now would you?
How these “thieves” got your personal information is easy enough.
It can be as innocent as someone scanning through your trash, someone watching
you punch in your pin numbers over your shoulder at an ATM machine or sending
an email that looks as if it were sent by a legitimate business.
Once they get all your personal information, these thieves will change your
billing address. You will not be aware of this unless you know that you always
get your bills in the mail, keep track of your charges and constantly
check your credit reports.
Below are sure signs that you are an identity theft victim.
1. Upon checking your credit reports, you find that there are some new charge
cards from companies you do not know anything about. You might not pay attention
to this yet because you think that your bank just made some mistakes in your
billing.
2. You are receiving bills for new credit card accounts that you did not
open.
3. You notice some charges in your credit card statement that you did not
even authorize.
4. You are receiving calls from business owners regarding items that they
said you bought but actually do not have any idea about.
5. Debts are starting to show on your reports and you find yourself being
denied credit.
If you are beginning to notice these things, follow up and report
any discrepancies immediately.
You may not know it yet but you might be an identity theft victim already.
In order to avoid being victim of this crime, you have to make sure that:
You are keeping a close watch on your credit card activities. Your physical
card is not always necessary to make purchases toward your account. Take note that
by simply getting hold of the number on your card, any person can make charges
against your credit by making online or telephone purchases.
It is a fact that majority of the people are not scrutinizing their billing
statement each month. This makes it possible for identity thieves to get
away with hundreds or even thousands of dollars worth of merchandise.
Try also to monitor your credit report. Once your credit report starts showing
signs of having poor credit ratings when you always pay your bills on time,
it is time to focus your attention on it and to do some of your own investigations.
Identity thieves may be spending all of your hard earned money to buy items
and merchandise while you are the one who is obliged to pay the bills.
Not only are they getting the money you have worked so hard for, but they
are destroying your credit rating in the process.
Be one step ahead of identity thieves by thinking what other strategies they can use
to steal your identity. Be wary of persons you are next to when shopping
and when paying bills. You might be taken advantage right there and then.
Avoiding being an identity theft victim is sometimes only a matter of being
aware of your surroundings and doing things such as cupping the debit machine
to protect your pin while you input it.
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