This year an estimated 10 million people will be victims of identity theft in the United States. Identity theft is one of the fastest growing crimes in America costing consumers and businesses tens of millions of dollars a year. Though there is no way to totally prevent yourself from becoming a victim of identity theft you can lower your risks of becoming a victim by taking the right precautions and understanding how identity theft occurs.
How Thieves Take Your Identity
-Snatch your wallet or purse.
-Steal your mail.
-Thieves may go through your trash looking for bank and credit card statements or anything containing your personal information.
-Thieves may steal your information from organizations such as merchants, banks, utility companies or even government agencies. They might do this by hacking into their systems or simply breaking into the business and stealing it.
-Thieves will send you fraudulent emails known as ?phishing?. These emails look as if they are from financial institutions or businesses and try to con you into providing personal or account information. They may claim that there is a problem with your account and that you need verify your information in order to fix it. Do NOT provide any information to them as these emails are phony.
-Thieves may put viruses or other programs onto your computer that can log your keystrokes thus having the ability to obtain your passwords.
How to Protect Your Identity
-Check your credit reports at least once a year.
-Shred unwanted documents that contain personal information in a cross cut shredder.
-Close any unused credit card or bank accounts.
-Remove your name from mailing lists for pre-approved credit lines and telemarketers.
-Keep your PIN number and any other passwords confidential.
-Contact your financial institution or service provider if you notice odd charges or if expected bills don't arrive.
-Update your computer virus software, use a spyware removal program, and install a firewall program.
-Consider getting a credit monitoring service. This service will alert you when an entry is made on your credit file.
-DON'T give out personal information via the mail, phone, or Internet unless YOU initiated contact.
-DON'T carry your Social Security Number or any PIN numbers or passwords in your purse or wallet.
These are just a few things that can help prevent you from becoming a victim of identity theft. However if you do become a victim of identity theft be sure to file a police report and contact the three credit bureaus to place a fraud alert on your file. In addition contact your financial institution and creditors and let them know you have been victimized.
The actual number of people that become victims of identity theft has climbed dramatically. This is because thieves are find newer and more advanced ways to get your personal information. For example, you may have made a purchase online and now you have found that there are other purchases from the same company that you did not make on your credit card bill.
This is a classic case of identity theft. The worse part about this is that this crime is happening more and more because people choose to shop online instead of in stores. This crime happens when someone gets a hold of your personal information and uses it to make purchases, get credit cards, get loans or anything else that one may need personal information to get or get into.
It is essential that we do everything we can to protect our selves from identity theft. Unfortunately once it happens the only thing you can do is stop it from getting worse. Once someone gets your personal information and wants to use it for their own personal gain you are pretty much out of luck. The person pretending to be you can get all kinds of things and run up countless amounts in bills and not think there is anything that can be done about it.
Fortunately, there are laws in place that somewhat protect our reputation and credit ratings if this happens. Federal law states that the victim is not responsible for anything over $50 of fraudulent charges. The card company is responsible for the rest of the charges. Many people do not know that identity theft is now considered a federal offense and is not taken lightly in a court of law.
If you have not been a victim of this crime you should start taking actions to keep yourself safe from financial harm. You should start by being extremely careful about to whom you give personal information to and only give it out when it is a need to know situation. Your social security number is the biggest thing that a thief can use against you along with your ID or drivers license number.
You should never carry your social security card on you if you do not need it. This card should be left in a safe place and any paper work with your number on it should be shredded or placed with your card. Your drivers license has to be on you at all times, therefore it is hard to keep it safe. If it alone or you purse/wallet is stolen you should contact the police immediately and file a report.
If you follow these tips, check your credit report frequently, and use a credit monitoring agency, it should help reduce your chance of becoming an identity theft victim.
Both John Mcclendon & Yo Fujikawa are contributors for EditorialToday. The above articles have been edited for relevancy and timeliness. All write-ups, reviews, tips and guides published by EditorialToday.com and its partners or affiliates are for informational purposes only. They should not be used for any legal or any other type of advice. We do not endorse any author, contributor, writer or article posted by our team.
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