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Fifteen Easy Solutions to Avoid Being a Victim of Identity Theft
Identity theft usually happens when a certain person unlawfully obtains your
personal data such as your Social Security Number, Credit card Accounts,
Driver’s License Number or other information of a personal nature about you.
The person who obtains your personal information utilizes it to obtain a
loan or credit card application, which is under your name. The thief also
uses it to make unlawful purchases or to use any of your active financial accounts.
Identity theft is very prevalent today, but there are significant guidelines you
can consider which will help you lessen the potential of becoming a victim of
these identity thieves.
1. Do not give any of your personal details such as your birth date, social
security number, mother's maiden name or account numbers on the telephone
especially when someone asks you for it.
In addition, do not give it through email except if you are the one who started
the contact and you know the person who will be receiving your information.
2. Tear into pieces or shred with a paper shredder any papers that contain
your personal data before disposing of them. This papers includes
credit card bills, utility bills, credit card applications, checking accounts and bank
statements.
3. Have correct and present records of all your credit cards including contact
information to cancel them if they are missing or stolen. If possible, make copies
of your credit cards and put your service number on the copies.
If you are not using your credits card now, make sure to store them in a
safe place and keep it locked.
It is also wise to store your unused checks, social security card and bank
statements in a safe place.
4. You should also keel credit card receipt copies when purchasing
something to compare to your statements when you receive them. Make sure that
your credit card is returned to you after the purchase.
5. It is necessary to monitor your credit report every year. There are three
main credit card reporting offices.
These three reporting offices allow you to have a free credit report annually.
If you want, you can visit their websites and ask for your free report.
6. You should also ensure that when you are withdrawing from any ATM machines
or stores, there is no one behind you who could freely see your PIN number.
Also, be sure that no one hears you when you are giving your credit card
number or other personal data about yourself to someone on the telephone.
7. When buying something online, ensure that the website is safe. (HTTPS should
be on the order page.
8. When using your personal computer, use a firewall and a good virus
protection. You can also make use of your password that consist of not purely
letters, purely numbers and purely symbols. This is where a good password generator
comes in handy. It can generate passwords that hackers cannot guess or
decipher.
It should be a combination of at least letters and numbers, letters and symbol,
symbols and number or else a combination of the three.
Remember not to use passwords that are obviously come from your birth date,
anniversaries or phone numbers. If necessary, memorize your passwords. Never
write them down anywhere.
9. Do not reply to any emails that request your personal information.
Contact the credit card office or the bank directly to update your personal
information, better than that, attend in person at the bank.
Keep in mind that bank and other financial or non-financial institutions
do not ask for information update through email. So, beware of those
that ask it from you, they are obviously fake.
10. If you notice many pre-approved credit offers in your emails, call the
credit card company and request to remove your name from the promotional
lists they advertise.
11. Have your mail held at the post office or in a locked mail box.
12. Make sure that that you pick up checks personally from the bank.
Do not allow them to be sent to you by mail.
13. Put passwords in all your accounts for your safety. Again, use the
combination of letters, numbers or symbols when generating passwords.
14. You can always apply for an identification theft insurance policy.
15. You can also register with credit watch offices. This type of office
makes checking of all your credit reports simpler by automatically informing
when something has changed in your report.
In this way, it will be possible for you to know if someone attempts to obtain
credit under your name.
By simply following the solutions above, you will be moving in the right direction
to protect yourself against identity theft.
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