Identity Theft Prevention

Be Proactive With Identity Theft Prevention

Although nothing has a 100 percent guarantee against identity theft, there are numerous common sense measures that make it more difficult for thieves to steal your personal and financial information. Whether at home, at work, on vacation, running errands around town, or conducting transactions online, the potential for identity theft lurks around every corner. But you can lessen your chances of becoming an identity theft victim by implementing preventive measures that work in unison to safeguard your identity.

Understanding Identity Theft

Identity theft is the act of someone using your personal identifying information without your knowledge or permission to commit fraud or other crimes. There are many different types of identity theft, and, according to the Federal Trade Commission, more than 10 million Americans each year are victims of the crime. Despite aggressive efforts to deter identity theft, the number of crimes committed continues to increase as thieves become more sophisticated in their methods. As soon as federal officials discover and shut down one method of identity theft, the criminals are on to another. Although identity theft is a growing problem, federal officials report that identity theft prevention measures are working.

The Seriousness of Identity Theft

Identity theft can ruin a person’s life in so many ways, even years after the crime was committed. Although detecting and reporting the crime is straightforward, repairing the damage can be complex and takes longer to complete. The Federal Trade Commission reports that some victims of identity theft are denied loans for homes, cars and education because of adverse information on their credit reports. Others may not be hired for a job because of negative credit information (visit our site on credit repair services). There are also cases, although far and few between, where identity theft victims are arrested for crimes they did not commit. Depending on the type of identity theft committed, the damage to a person’s life can be extensive and the repair process tedious.

Ways To Prevent Identity Theft

Considering that identity theft victims typically spend years and hundreds of dollars recovering from the crime and repairing their good name and credit, it makes sense to implement preventive measures. The Federal Trade Commission has identified several identity theft prevention measures that discourage thieves from stealing your identity. They include:

• Checking your credit report at least once a year, although quarterly is recommended.

• Safeguarding your social security number, checking and savings account numbers, credit card numbers, PIN numbers and any other forms of personal identifying and financial information.

• Scrutinizing your credit card and banking statements as soon as you receive them and immediately reporting any charges or entries that are incorrect or not initiated by you.

• Shredding all billing statements, unused credit cards and other documents containing personal identifying information before throwing them in the trash. Learn more about the types of personal information safeguards.

• Putting a security freeze on your credit report.

• Using credit monitoring services.

• Enrolling in an identity theft protection service.

• Purchasing identity theft insurance.

• Utilizing fraud alert protection.

• Stopping junk mail and telemarketing calls.

Online Identity Theft Prevention Measures

Cyber identity theft is just as prevalent as identity theft crimes committed in the real world. In the virtual world, consumers are much more vulnerable because what they may think is a valid email message or a secure website might be a setup to gather your personal and/or financial information. However, there are measures for protecting your digital identification when surfing the Internet and conducting online transactions. Among the most important online identity theft prevention measures are:

Typing web addresses of financial institutions and other online accounts into your browser, rather than using a link in an email.

• Using a data sweep service.

• Setting your computer to automatically download any security patches and fixes.

• Going through a secure payment agent when conducting online transactions.

• Installing virus and spyware detection software.

• Creating strong passwords for all your online accounts.

• Using online fraud and spam prevention services.

Also, check your FICO scores to detect identity theft.