Signs Of Identity Theft Fastest Growing Crimes Of The Times
Signs of identity theft are easily recognizable. The trouble is not in finding information on how to prevent it, it's sorting through all the information your find to figure out what is good information and what isn't. This article will provide you with some tips on how to protect your identity from thieves.
Identity theft is still the fastest growing crime these days. Millions of people are affected every year and billions of dollars are lost to fraudulent activity. It's more important than ever to be diligent in protecting your personal information. If your identity is stolen it doesn't just affect you, it affects all of us since the companies pass on those lost dollars to every one of their other customers by raising their rates and fees.
Use this identity theft information to protect yourself as well as help keep costs down for everyone else:
1. Don't give out your personal information. It's easy to get caught off guard when some fast talker calls you on the phone and says there is a problem with your account and asks you to please verify your information for their records?
Do not follow their lead and start panicking, stop and make them slow down, there are questions that need to be asked and answered here. If your bank, credit card company or utility company is calling you, why would they need you to confirm your information? They are calling you, they already have your information. This is most likely a scam, hang up and call the company yourself. They may not know that someone is calling their customers on their behalf and would probably like to have this information.
2. Shred all your documents. Go buy a cross-cut shredder and shred every little piece of mail you get. Better to be safe than sorry.
3. Do not carry your social security card with you. Do not put your drivers license number on your checks. With your birth date and your drivers license number a thief can do a lot of damage. Don't make it easy for them, Keep your information to yourself.
4. You get to check each of the three credit bureaus every year, for free. Do it. Take full advantage and if you see something that looks wrong, contact the credit bureau right away and file a dispute.
5. Look over your credit card and bank statements thoroughly each month. Finding a mistake can be one of the signs of identity theft.
6. Keep your computer protected. Keep all your anti virus and anti spyware up to date and run scans frequently. Keep firewalls active all the time.
7. Don't ever make the mistake of thinking that you can click on a link in an email and that you will be at the site of your bank, or credit card company and start filling in personal information. There are ways of masking the website address and making it appear you are on a different site.
So you may be thinking that you are on the site for your bank when in actuality you are on the site of scammers and they are gathering all your personal information. Don't click links, instead type the address in yourself.
Use these signs of identity theft information as a jumping off point. You can always ask your bank and credit card company for more help if you need it. Because if you can protect your identity you can help them from losing a lot of money.
