6 Steps to Protecting Your Identity

Keeping Yourself Safe

The quickest and easiest way to protect yourself from becoming a victim of an identity theft crime is by signing up for a service that will take the due diligence of guarding your credit report and credit score for you, monitoring your credit and the various sites across the Internet where these thieves exchange information. Aside from that (or in addition to it), there are six, common-sense steps you can take to protect your identity and significantly reduce the chances that your identity will be stolen.

1. Rip it! Shred it! Trash it! You'd be surprised at how many Americans today don't bother to shred their personally identifying information that arrives in the mail. Courts around the country have ruled that trash taken out to the curb may be legally searched through by passerby and, whether you know it or not, your trash is likely being searched through - usually for innocuous recyclables like cans and glass, but sometimes for identifying information as well. Invest in a solid cross-cut shredder from your local office supplies store and use it - especially on those credit card and loan offers you seem to get in the mail every day.
2. Be Suspicious: When getting calls or e-mail solicitations for donations to your local police or fire station or some charity. More often than not these days, these organizations use volunteers going door to door in order to solicit donations, you should seriously think twice about donating to one on the phone if they are the one that initiated the call. The best way to be safe is to ask them for their phone number so that you can call them back and make the donation that way. A legitimate organization will give you a toll-free number to call. A thief will simply hang up.
3. Think before clicking: Phishing has become an increasingly popular way of stealing the identity of the unwary. It happens when a person receives an e-mail that looks very much like it's from their bank or other online financial institution telling them that they have to log in to their account for verification reasons. Sometimes this e-mail will seem very ominous or threatening, suggesting that unless you comply, your account will be suspended or closed. If you click on the link in this e-mail it takes you to a login page on the web that looks very much like it is from your bank and may even include all of the artwork and the bank's logo. Logging in this screen sends your information directly to a criminal who will then have everything they need to log into your real account online and clean you out before you know it.

   Avoid going anywhere an e-mail invites you to in order to log in. Most banks and lending institutions will never ever communicate such critical information to you via e-mail (too unreliable), but to be sure, if you do receive such an e-mail, either call the bank yourself directly or open a web browser and type in the address to log into the site manually. Don't click on any of the links in the e-mail.

4. Check your credit: It should go without saying that checking your credit reports at least once every year is a good way to make sure that everything is in order and stays that way. Obviously the more often you check it, the more likely you will be to catch any issue before it happens. Signing up with an identity theft protection service that does this step for you is a serious time and energy-saving device.
5. Don't carry your Social Security Card: Far too many people carry their social security card around with them on a regular, daily basis in their purse or wallet. This is the quickest way for a thief to get everything they need in order to clean you out if your wallet is ever lost or stolen.
6. Keep an eye on your statements: Your monthly bank statements are the first and most key indicator that something is wrong if your identity is stolen for financial reasons. Check them regularly and thoroughly when they arrive.