Kurt Howard asked:




Identity theft can be one of the most stressful experiences you can ever have and falling victim to ID theft is becoming more and more common today. Although there are certain situations that are out of your control which can lead to identity theft, there are numerous steps you can take that will lower your risk of becoming an identity theft victim.

One of the easiest steps you can take to prevent identity theft is to obtain a copy of your free credit report every year. Due to the changes to the Fair Credit Reporting Act each major national consumer reporting bureau is required to provide you a free credit report once a year.

When you request your free credit report choose to have your credit report printout contain only the last four digits of your social security number. This will help prevent anyone from obtaining your whole social security number should they get a hold of your report.

Another step to preventing identity theft is to keep all of your personal documents safely stored in your home. All personal documents should be stored within a locked container such as a safe or file cabinet. This is especially important if you employ anyone at your home such as a babysitter or maid.

Password protecting your credit card and bank accounts with a password that is not easily linked to you is also important for preventing identity theft. One password that you should refrain from using is your mother’s maiden name. Other poor choices are your telephone number, anniversary or birthday. Many credit card and bank account will use your mother’s maiden name as a default password, however you should ask to choose a different password that is more secure.

One of the most common causes of identity theft is from your trash. Make sure to use a shredder when you are disposing of old paperwork, confidential documents or mail. Paper shredders have become very inexpensive and are one of the best devices for preventing identity theft. They are the easiest way that you can help prevent someone from digging through your trash and finding personal information.

Finally, when mailing anything that contains personal information take the mail directly to the post office or a postal mail box or to the post office. This is extremely important if your outgoing mail box is not in a locked or secure.

Following these simple steps can greatly decrease your odds of becoming an identity theft victim. Identity theft become a very large problem and should not be taken lightly. Start protecting yourself today.

Dora

Jon Arnold asked:




Do you use identity theft prevention measures? If not, you may want to start. Identity theft is one of the fastest growing crimes of this century and more than 10 million people find themselves a victim of it annually. The vast majority of this is simply not being cautious with who they share their personal information with.

If you discover that you have become a victim, you can probably anticipate paying at least $500 in cold hard cash to get the problems corrected. This is real money, and does not even count the 80+ hours of your personal time that you will also need to invest in writing letters, sending faxes, making phone calls, and trying to convince very skeptical debtors that it was not you that racked up all those charges. As these thieves continue to get smarter, you must also keep up on what is going on for the best identity theft prevention measures that you can use.

Everyone has heard that one of the best ways to not become a victim is to shred all mail that comes into your home. This is a great first step. Make sure that you use a shredder that cross-cuts the paper, since this will completely alleviate the ability to put the document back together. One often overlooked item to shred is magazines. Many magazines have preprinted order forms inside that have your name and account number on them, so tear off the address label and the order form before you throw them out.

The government has become aware of the prevalence and severity of this crime and has implemented some legislation aimed at identity theft prevention. The first thing is allowing you to get a free credit report once a year from each of the credit bureaus so that you can see activity on your account and identify activity that should not be there.

The credit reporting companies have also gotten into the act to help you prevent this crime. One way is to send them an “opt-out” which means that you no longer want any banks or financial institutions to mail you offers, even if you qualify. This is a great idea, especially because you may be tempted to sign up for what may appear to be great offers and then find yourself with financial problems due to over-extending yourself.

The credit bureaus also allow you to request a “credit freeze” on your account which will completely freeze your report. What this means is that nobody can run a credit report on you without your express permission. To get permission, it is a somewhat difficult process, and most identity thieves will not bother with this since there are so many targets that are much easier.

If you still feel vulnerable, you might consider buying identity theft protection. Two popular ways are either hiring a company that monitors you credit report and notifies you of any changes or there are companies available that will help you prevent it to begin with. Either type of company can be found online and charge a monthly fee for the service.

The crime of identity theft continues to grow every year, so the ball is in your court to take preventive measures. Be cautious of who you share your personal information with, both online and offline, and implementing these tactics can very well save you the huge time and expense involved with fixing the problem if you become a victim.

Bernard

Jake Feuerbacher asked:


Once again, there have been more instances of Identity Theft, as a result of unsecured networks, greedy employees and contractors, and lost or stolen laptops. More people have had their personal information compromised, and now currently live in the possibility that someone out there is using their identity for illegal activities, such as immigration, money fraud, or even medical fraud. Some of the people affected don’t even know that their information has fallen into the wrong hands. Others may have received a letter from some institution alerting them to the fact that their identities may have been compromised.

How aware of these events are you? Are you watching the news, or reading the newspaper or learning about it on a website on the Internet? Do you pay attention to Identity Theft, even though it may have not happened to you yet? Or are you just know paying attention to the overwhelming breaches because you just had a bad experience due to someone actually getting your personal information? If it has happened to you, then of course your awareness is already raised, but if it hasn’t yet, you may want to pay attention to what’s going on in the world.

There are services out there that can monitor the use of your personal information. The first and perfect example is to talk to one of the 3 main credit reporting agencies, Equifax, Experian, or TransUnion. They’ve also partnered together and created a website, www.annualcreditreport.com, where you can request a free credit report once a year. You may see a lot of companies offering services to monitor your credit, or keep a watchful eye on your personal information. Before you sign up for this, make sure you do your research on which company is to be trusted. The last thing you want to happen is to have your identity stolen while trying to keep an eye on it.

Another step you can take is to set up an alert based on a company you use, such as your bank, or investment company or University, and every time that company is mentioned, you will receive an email notifying you. Google allows for this to be possible by their alert system found here: http://www.google.com/alerts. For example, you can set up an alert for your bank “BANK NAME” and anytime that they appear in the news, you will receive a notification with a link about the news article, and from there you can read the article to see if a breach has occurred. As you set these up, you will learn more and more what terms you are looking for, and what terms you may not want to use.

Again, you must be vigilant when keeping an eye on your Identity. Do everything you can to make sure no one else takes advantage of it.



Frances