Prevent Identity Theft

Imagine you are walking down the street and you see this scenario: A pretty, young woman is leaving a coffee shop to head home. There are several others on the street as well. A man comes out of nowhere and snatches her purse and runs away.

The woman begins shouting and pleas for help. All are concerned by the man is too fast and disappears off. That woman’s identity has just been stolen. All of her credit card information, her address and name from her driver’s license and more.

Everyone would like to keep their property, personal information and, of course, money from getting in the wrong hands. It is a violation against the law to steal someone’s property, much more so with personal identity theft.

Although it is still a crime, it may be more acceptable for a thief to steal your property rather than your personal information. It is awful when your privacy is taken away because someone stole your personal information.

Identity theft takes away all of your privacy, exposing all of your details to the thief. The thief can therefore make a business deal with others using all of your information. This means that you will not only lose your wallet, money, maybe your phone and other material items from within the purse, but you will also be at risk to lose everything from all the money in your account to your privacy.

There is no need to worry yourself sick over the thought of this happening because there are many things you can do to prevent identity theft from happening to you! Following the tips below can keep you from being a victim of identity theft.

1.)    Always have your belongings in their secure, proper places. This is the most essential thing for you to do to keep your things safe. Never allow someone to access your wallet where you keep your ID cards, banking cards, etc.  Avoid trusting those you care for, studies show that nearly 26% of identity theft cases happen from someone who knew the victim.

2.)    Burn or shred all receipts, bank statements and other papers that contain your personal information. This helps protect your financial status and privacy.

3.)    Never provide personal information over the phone. If at all possible, provide such information or payment in person. If you must provide personal or payment information over the phone first make sure you know whom you are talking to and exactly what the charge will be for.

4.)    Another way to protect yourself against identity theft is to only bring the ID and payment you will need for a specific transaction. Leave all other information at your home.

5.)    When you are at your bank making a transaction such as depositing a check you may be required to fill out a form. When writing your bank account number, only provide the last 4 digits. The teller knows what to do and how to locate your bank account for you.

6.)    Check online and search to make sure you know the latest information about online identity theft. This may be a big concern if you often purchase things through the Internet. “Web spoofing” is when someone steals identity through a website. Where your e-mail account is located online can be imitated to steal such information from you.

7.)    When it comes to your debit and/or credit cards, take precaution. Always keep your banking cards in a secure place on you at all times when out shopping. When you pay for an item, hand your card directly to the cashier and make sure you get it back immediately after she/he has ran it for payment.

8.)    Make sure you also secure your ATM cards. When you use your ATM card to withdraw cash from your account make sure you hold it securely and do not become a victim of “skimming”. This is when an ATM machine gathers the information about your transaction and does not keep it protected.

Unfortunately, there are thousands of people daily who become a victim of identity theft. This often happens to those who are unaware about this offense. Keep yourself well informed and protected against this crime.

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