How to Protect Yourself from Identity Thieves
It is estimated that one in thirty-five Americans will be a victim of identity theft in his or her lifetime. One of the fastest growing crimes is now identity theft. There is even a good chance that you will not know that you are a victim of identity theft. On average, an individual does not discover that they are a victim of identity theft for about fourteen months.
There are many ways from keeping yourself protected from identity theft. One of the most important is to monitor your credit report on a regular basis. Be sure to pull your credit score at least once a year. The credit agencies will charge somewhere around $9 per agency should you wish to pull it more than once per year. If you see a sudden drop in your credit score after you have been keeping up with you’re your bills then there is a good chance that you have become another victim. You can contact any of the three credit agencies for a free annual report. Remember, that knowledge is power to stop the thieves from further ruining your credit.
Another good way to protect your self is to purchase a paper shredder. Thieves will go to any length to get what they want. A thief can find information in all sorts of interesting places like trash cans, dumpsters or even the city dump. It is very common for people to throw away voided checks, deposit slips, old tax return information, bank statements, credit card receipts and credit card offers that you receive in the mail. They will look for anything possible where they can get to your account numbers, social security information and even your drivers license number. The best way to avoid this is to shred all your important documents. You can purchase a shredder for under $75 at most any retailers like Office Max, Office Depot or better yet Wal-Mart.
Email is another way that thieves will also try to get information from you. Do not answer any emails that say they are coming from a bank and asking you for your information to update their records. These perpetrators will make the emails seem very realistic and convincing. They will disguise themselves as being from Bank of America, EBay, Pay Pal and even the IRS (Internal Revenue Service). I have received many an email claiming to be from the IRS telling me that I have unclaimed refund money. They want your social security number. That is why they claim to be from the IRS. Banks or the IRS will never solicit information from you via email. It is also very difficult to catch these online thieves as more often than not they are from out of the country. If you do receive an unsolicited email pretending to be the IRS you can report it online at www.IRS.gov. Should you receive an unwanted email pretending to be a bank such as Bank of America you can report to http://www.doi.gov/pam/Fraudalert411.html.
Also, be careful if you live in a dormitory or with roommates. You might know your roommates well enough to trust; however, they can bring someone else who brings another person that ends up steeling your check book. Lock up your valuables in your own home. You can never be too careful with important information like your bank statements, inactivated credit cards or even your driver license. All someone needs to open up new accounts is your social security number or license number and it’s off too the races. Many times people can find information about you on Google as well. One piece of information given to a search engine can retrieve other data as well.
Be careful where you give out information when online. Do not log on to online banking or other online financial sites like credit card online accounts when you are on an unsecured wireless network. Hackers can be intercepting data while you’re logged onto to your computer at popular wireless hangouts like Starbucks. Lastly, do not use public computers to access online account information either. It’s quite possible that your password information stays on that computer and is retrievable by the next person to log on.
It is estimated that one in thirty-five Americans will be a victim of identity theft in his or her lifetime. One of the fastest growing crimes is now identity theft. There is even a good chance that you will not know that you are a victim of identity theft. On average, an individual does not discover that they are a victim of identity theft for about fourteen months.
There are many ways from keeping yourself protected from identity theft. One of the most important is to monitor your credit report on a regular basis. Be sure to pull your credit score at least once a year. The credit agencies will charge somewhere around $9 per agency should you wish to pull it more than once per year. If you see a sudden drop in your credit score after you have been keeping up with you’re your bills then there is a good chance that you have become another victim. You can contact any of the three credit agencies for a free annual report. Remember, that knowledge is power to stop the thieves from further ruining your credit.
Another good way to protect your self is to purchase a paper shredder. Thieves will go to any length to get what they want. A thief can find information in all sorts of interesting places like trash cans, dumpsters or even the city dump. It is very common for people to throw away voided checks, deposit slips, old tax return information, bank statements, credit card receipts and credit card offers that you receive in the mail. They will look for anything possible where they can get to your account numbers, social security information and even your drivers license number. The best way to avoid this is to shred all your important documents. You can purchase a shredder for under $75 at most any retailers like Office Max, Office Depot or better yet Wal-Mart.
Email is another way that thieves will also try to get information from you. Do not answer any emails that say they are coming from a bank and asking you for your information to update their records. These perpetrators will make the emails seem very realistic and convincing. They will disguise themselves as being from Bank of America, EBay, Pay Pal and even the IRS (Internal Revenue Service). I have received many an email claiming to be from the IRS telling me that I have unclaimed refund money. They want your social security number. That is why they claim to be from the IRS. Banks or the IRS will never solicit information from you via email. It is also very difficult to catch these online thieves as more often than not they are from out of the country. If you do receive an unsolicited email pretending to be the IRS you can report it online at www.IRS.gov. Should you receive an unwanted email pretending to be a bank such as Bank of America you can report to http://www.doi.gov/pam/Fraudalert411.html.
Also, be careful if you live in a dormitory or with roommates. You might know your roommates well enough to trust; however, they can bring someone else who brings another person that ends up steeling your check book. Lock up your valuables in your own home. You can never be too careful with important information like your bank statements, inactivated credit cards or even your driver license. All someone needs to open up new accounts is your social security number or license number and it’s off too the races. Many times people can find information about you on Google as well. One piece of information given to a search engine can retrieve other data as well.
Be careful where you give out information when online. Do not log on to online banking or other online financial sites like credit card online accounts when you are on an unsecured wireless network. Hackers can be intercepting data while you’re logged onto to your computer at popular wireless hangouts like Starbucks. Lastly, do not use public computers to access online account information either. It’s quite possible that your password information stays on that computer and is retrievable by the next person to log on.
Labels: business credit cards, credit card offers, credit cards, identity theft protection
Credit Card / Financial news blog post by Todd Holliday at 8:58 PM 