Identity theft is an ever increasing crime that takes in more and more victims each day. However, it may not sink in how prevalent a crime it is until you or someone you know are personally affected. This is a crime that has risen to #1, taking the spot of drug trafficking. The amount of time and effort it takes to clear up the damage that comes with such a crime can take up to two years. Forums and conferences are being held nationwide to help make citizens more aware of this crime and give tips on how to protect themselves.

We would like to remind our readers of taking the following precautions:

-shred any documents, bills, mail, etc. that has any link to your personal information (name, address, phone number, social security number, etc) before throwing it away;
-do not carry your social security card in your wallet. If you wallet is lost or stolen, so is your identity;
-keep records of all credit card that you carry with you at home. Have the credit card numbers and also the numbers to call in case of a lost or stolen card. Be sure to report these immediately in the event of loss;
-check bank statements regularly to be sure no fraudulent activity is showing and contact the bank immediately if any unauthorized charges are on your statement;
-be sure that you do not respond to “phishing” emails online or phone calls that ask you to verify sensitive information like account information;
-check your credit report regularly for any questionable activity and report any fraudulent accounts to the major credit bureaus.

All of the above will prove to be a great help in preventing yourself from becoming a victim of identity theft. Also, keep in mind that you could become a victim of a data breach, which you have no control over. This is when a company or institution that must have your personal information on file has their records accessed or stolen. Although you can not do anything to prevent that from happening, you can enroll in an identity theft protection service if you feel that you might become a victim. This way, if your information is stolen or sold to a another party, you can be alerted and stand a better chance at being protected.

This entry was posted on Wednesday, November 19th, 2008 at 7:11 am and is filed under Articles Concerning Identity Theft. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can skip to the end and leave a response. Pinging is currently not allowed.