Identity Theft Protection

Identity theft protection is critical in today’s society. Identity theft occurs when a dishonest person acquires your personal information, such as your social security number, and uses it to commit fraud.  Oftentimes, the identity thief will use this information to obtain a credit card in your name and go on a spending spree.  Once your identity has been stolen, getting things straightened out can be a time consuming and difficult process.  Obviously, identity theft protection on the front end is better than having to clean up the mess from identity theft on the back end.

Listed below are 10 things you can do to help protect yourself from identity theft.

• Be very careful with your PIN numbers.  Try to have them memorized, and never write them on your ATM or debit cards.  Also, when entering PIN numbers at an ATM machine or debit card terminal, try to prevent others from seeing which numbers you enter. 
• When paying bills, take your mail to a post office box rather than placing it in your mailbox at home.  Identity thieves are known to remove mail from mailboxes to gain access to account numbers and social security numbers. 
• Remove incoming mail from your home mailbox promptly to limit the opportunity for thieves to gain access to your mail. 
• If you suddenly stop receiving mail, call the post office immediately.  One trick of identity thieves is to forge your signature to have your mail forwarded elsewhere, then obtain information that will allow them to apply for credit in your name.  
• Never give your credit card number or other personal information to an unsolicited caller. 
• Report stolen credit cards immediately. 
• Always review your credit card statements and bank statements for signs of unauthorized activity, and report such activity immediately. 
• Use a shredder to shred documents that have personal information on them before you throw the documents away.  Identity thieves are known to go through trash. 
• Check your credit reports regularly, and use a credit monitoring service, such as FreeCreditReport.com. 
• Use an Identity Theft Protection service, such as LifeLock.

By following these simple steps, you can dramatically reduce your risk of becoming a victim of identity theft.

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