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[H1512]How To Protect From Identity Theft

by Gerri Stone, Ger

The FTC estimates that over nine million Americans have their identities stolen each year. This crime has a huge potential to disrupt your life, you might be denied a loan for education or housing, you may miss job opportunities, or in extreme cases, you might be arrested for a crime you did not commit.

One of the most common types of computer identity theft is called phishing. This is when you receive an email requesting your personal information from someone pretending to be a financial institution. The email appears to be from a business or agency that you may have had a reason to do business with in the past, such as the IRS, a credit card company, or EBay. The email explains that there has been a problem with your credit card, or there is a pending audit, and you need to reply to the email with the correct credit card information, or social security number to correct the problem.

As soon as you respond with the requested information, the computer identity theft begins. Your information could be sold online, or the scammer may use your identity to make online purchases, apply for loans, or to clear out your bank account. They might have the bills sent to a different address, so you won't even realize there is a problem until your good credit is ruined. They could use your name to get utilities such as telephone, heat, cable TV, or use your information to access your wireless internet account, and run up your charges. Your name could be used to file a fraudulent income tax return, or to obtain government benefits. The list of ways that computer identity theft can affect your life appears to increase daily.

Awareness is the most effective way to fight online identity theft. Share the knowledge that you need to protect your personal information and the potential for this type of crime with your friends and family. You should become familiar with anti-spy software programs for your computer. Research different types, and invest in one that works best for you. Run the program before you do any online financial transactions.

Don't open emails from people you don't know. If you receive an email from a financial institution that you do business with, go to their website, and check for any warnings about unauthorized emails being sent. You could also phone the institution to see if the email is legitimate.

Lastly, only do business online with secure sites. They will usually have a small symbol in the bottom right corner of your browser to show it is secure. Never use your social security number on the internet.

Following these tips will help you to protect yourself against computer identity theft. Unfortunately, it is becoming far too common; don't let yourself become the next victim.

Identity theft is becoming a bigger problem as more and more people are making the internet a bigger part of their lives. People who are new to the online medium often fall prey to ?phishing? or other internet identity theft schemes. In many cases the ?phishing party? uses your credit card to order goods for themselves, in other cases they will apply for credit cards, set up bank accounts, and take advantage of your good credit rating. Correcting these issues involves a lot of time energy and stress, so here are ten tips to help you from becoming a victim of identity theft.

Use a disposable email account. Keep your business or personal email account just for business or personal communication. If you are going to be making purchases online, joining newsgroups, or subscribing to mailing lists and ezines use a disposable email account. There are many online free accounts such as yahoo, hotmail or grail, and most of them can interface with popular email clients like outlook or outlook express. Use one of them for all of your shopping transactions.

Disguise your online identity. If your real name in Mary Smith try to avoid using email accounts with name like msmith@example.com when dealing with people you don't know and trust. If you were born in 1972 don't chose msmith1972@example.com as your email account.

Use different level passwords. Use one password for your personal information, use another for your business accounts and a third for your disposable email accounts or mailing lists you sign up for. Don't use sequential passwords like password1 for personal use password2 for business, and password 3 for disposable accounts.

Use strong passwords. Don't use your birthdates, year you were married, or your children's birthdates. Avoid choosing passwords that consist entirely of letters or numbers. Also try to avoid using passwords that are actual words. The best passwords are mnemonic phrases like ?my father ate three apples for breakfast?. Take the first letter of each word and convert the number into numbers and you end up with ?mfa3a4b?.

Rotate your passwords. You should change your passwords every 6 to 12 months. If you suspect your passwords have been compromised change them as a safety precaution.

Use only one credit card for all of your online purchases. If any of your other credit cards have online transactions you know they are fraudulent. If you see offline purchases for your online credit card you also know they are fraudulent.

Use credit cards instead of debit cards. While many debit cards now offer online purchase protection it's easier to dispute fraudulent charges than to recover debit card funds that have already been spent.

When you make purchases online make sure your transactions are secure. In the address bar you should see ?https? and not ?http?. There should also be small lock icon in your browser. If this is your first purchase from the company make sure the issuing company is someone you have heard of like Verisign, or Thawte.

Check a company's privacy policy. When you make your first transaction make sure your check the privacy policy, look for logos from consumer groups like Trust-E and the better business bureau. Click the logos to make sure they are authentic.

Never open or fill out email requests for you to update your account or credit card settings via email. These are ?phishing? scams people use to try and secure your personal information. Many of them are growing increasingly sophisticated and go to great lengths to look exactly like the companies website using their exact logo.

Article Source : Pg. 150

About Author

Both Gerri Stone & Sonia Sood 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.

Gerri Stone has sinced written about articles on various topics from Acid Reflux, Online College and Asthma. Get your Free software download of Evidence Eraser at Protect your identity and your privacy with the world's leading privacy p. Gerri Stone's top article generates over 135000 views. to your Favourites.

Sonia Sood has sinced written about articles on various topics from Advertising Guide, Family Concerns and Computers and The Internet. Did you find this article useful? For more useful tips and hints, points to ponder and keep in mind, techniques, and insights pertaining to computers, software, viruses and data recovery, do please browse for more information at our websites.. Sonia Sood's top article generates over 1900 views. to your Favourites.