1. They Can Steal Your Wallet or Purse: This one is the simplest way for thieves to get your personal information. Health clubs are a big hunting ground for wallet thieves. Make sure you put a padlock on your day locker. Also, be wary of pick pockets in public places. Consider carrying your wallet in your front pocket. Or consider wrapping the strap of your purse around you more firmly.
2. They Can Pose As You To Get Your Information From Unwitting 3rd Parties: This is the trick we've all seen on TV too many times. The thing is, it's a real threat. Identity thieves can be slick, and can catch a customer service rep off guard with a good excuse for not having proper identification, and can trick them into giving up your sensitive information.
3. They Can Rummage Through Your Files At Work: You know that disgruntled co-worker who is always complaining about not having enough money? There are ways for them to pad their meager incomes by betraying you and your information to identity rings. Know who is supposed to have access to your personal information at work. Minimize the amount of information that is available, and know your company's policies to know your risk.
4. They Can Hack Into A Computer On The Internet Where Your Information Is Stored: If you keep your credit card information on line, this information could be recovered by thieves. All reputable sites will encrypt your information, but this is sometimes not enough. Banks have been hit. Major retailers have been hit. Major internet service sites (like Monster.com) have been hit. Try to keep to a minimum the amount of your information you let companies store in their databases.
5. They Could Steal Your Phone: They don't even need to steal your phone for long. They could just "borrow" your phone to "call their dying mother" request a couple minutes of "privacy", and have all the room they need to find whatever there is to find on your phone. At the least they could use your address to feed your friend's phone numbers into their phone spam ring, and your friends will suddenly see an increase in unwanted dinnertime calls.
6. Phone Phishing: They could pose as someone "official" on the phone. Susie: "Hi. This is Susie from 'Your Favorite Bank', and I'm seeing some suspicious activity here. Did you recently change your address?" You: "Er, yeah." Susie: "Can I get the updated information from you?" You: "Sure." Susie: "OK, I'm going to need your social security number, to verify your account, and then I'm going to need the new address . . ." You get the point.
Can you do anything about these forms of identity theft? Well, you can take more care with your information, in some of the ways mentioned above. But there are now also ways to get indentity theft protection. Take some time to check them out.
