Follow these Careful Steps to Prevent Identity Theft
Identity theft is a scary thing and it happens around us all the time. If you have not been subject to it, then someone you know probably has. It comes in many different forms and it is important that we are all aware of it.
The Ultimate Guide on How to Avoid Identity Theft
The only way we can take steps to prevent identity theft is to know what it is and always be aware. Many of us do not know the proper steps to take to protect ourselves. Continue reading this article to find out all the ways to prevent identity theft.
Keep Yourself and Your Finances Safe. The Creditry Store Is Here to Help.
What Is Identity Theft?
The best way to prevent identity theft is to understand what it is. identity theft is when someone steals your personal information and uses it without your permission. While it is almost impossible to completely isolate yourself and prevent identity theft, understanding the different ways it can occur is key.
Data breaches are a type of identity theft. This is when someone gets access to data from an organization without permission. When this happens, usually names, social security numbers, and credit card numbers are stolen. This can happen to a credit card company or a specific store that has only the information of their credit card customers, but it can also happen to an online retailer that has many different credit card numbers from all of their customers.
While in general, surfing the internet is safe, there are some websites that are not secure. Typically, you get an alert if you are not on a secure website and you should never share any information if you know that a website is not secure.
Credit card theft is another large type of identity theft. It is also a simple one because once someone gains access to your credit card information, they are able to use that information to make purchases that are not allowed. It can happen through a data breach as mentioned above, but it could also be through actually stealing your credit card, credit card skimmers, and online retail. Mail theft is still a problem.
While it may seem silly because you think not much information is mailed anymore. There is still plenty of mail that can be stolen. It has been a method of theft for a long time and will continue to be as long as mail is sent. Thieves look through the mail for items such as bank and credit card statements, and even replacement credit cards sent in the mail. You can also make yourself vulnerable to theft by throwing away these items. You should make sure that you shred this information.
Keep Personal Information Safe
In an effort to prevent identity theft, it is important to keep your personal information safe. I want to pause here for a moment to explain that when your identity is compromised, that also means your credit identity. When someone steals your information, it is most likely going to have some impact on your credit. It is probably helpful for you to understand what is considered your personally identifiable information. You may be aware of some of the information that is considered information that can identify you.
Name, Date of Birth and Social Security Number
Your name and date of birth, when used together, are considered personally identifiable. Typically, your name alone does not tell much about you, other than your name, but when used with your date of birth, it can clearly identify you. Then when you add your social security number to the mix, you have just given someone total access to you.
Your social security number really puts it together. One good thing is we are getting smart about the fact that identities can be stolen and are asking for more information in an effort to make it more difficult for someone to steal your information and use it.
Your Address(es)
It may be surprising to you, but your addresses also are considered identifiable information. While you may think that your current address is the only one that matters, that is not always true. Any address that you have ever had could give away more information about you than you realize. Your old addresses may actually be used more often than your current address when identifying yourself, depending on how it doing the identifying.
You will begin to find that once information has been tied to you, it is difficult to cut that tie. The same is true for any and all phone numbers. There was a time before we all had cell phones when we still had landlines. All of those numbers are tied to you. Then once we moved to cell phones, there was a time when we could not take our current number with us, so all of those phone numbers are still tied to you.
Check Accounts Often
A great way to prevent identity theft is to check your bank account and credit card statements often. You should check them several times a week to make sure there is no fraudulent activity. The best way to attack and prevent identity theft is to catch it quickly. When you review your statements, you will see right away if there is any suspicious activity. Only then will you be able to do something about it.
Check Your Credit Report
In addition to your accounts, you should also pull your credit report annually. You are entitled to one free copy of your credit report per year. You should check it every year to look for anything that does not seem right. If there are any errors on your credit report, you should correct them immediately. You are your own best defense against identity theft. You must pay attention to your information at all times.
Use Caution Online
If you want to prevent identity theft, you must proceed with caution when shopping online. Most websites are secure but not all of them are. You should make sure there is a closed lock symbol to the left of the URL in the search bar at the top of your browser. If that is there, the website is secure. If it is not there, then the website is not secure. You should never shop online on public Wi-Fi because there is no security across free Wi-Fi.
There are some other steps you can take to protect yourself online. You should only use a credit card online and not a debit card. Credit cards have more protections in place for larger amounts of money than debit cards do. If your debit account is hacked, then the money that is at stake is your money in your bank account. If your credit card is stolen, then the money at stake is not actually your own money.
You should have only one credit card that you use for online shopping. This card is not used for anything but online shopping so that you can watch the activity that is happening on that card, which makes it easier to know if there is fraudulent activity. While you should watch all of your accounts, you can pay special attention to this one account.
If you don’t have a credit card yet, you can enter your information below and you may get an offer from a lender whose criteria you meet:
Be Mindful of Scams
You should be mindful of scams while surfing the internet, especially if you want to prevent identity theft.
Credit Card Scams
When you use your credit card at the ATM or gas station, you could be opening yourself up to having your information stolen. Many scammers put something called a credit card skimmer on the credit card reader. These skimmers can be detected, but you have to look for them. If there appears to be any type of tampering with the credit card reader, you should not use it. There may be something like loose parts or there may be colors that look like they do not match on the machine. If you notice any of these, do not use the machine. You should find another one.
Internet Scams
There are many types of scams that can impact you when you are on the internet. One of the ways that scammers try to get your attention, is to provide a link on which they want you to click. They do everything they can to get your attention and have you click on that link. Most of the time when you click on the link, they use it to steal your personal information.
Pay Attention to Signs of Identity Theft
While it is difficult to prevent identity theft, there are some signs that can let you know that you have been a victim of identity theft. It is important that if you see any of these signs, you should take additional steps to try to recover from any type of identity theft. If you suddenly realize that you are no longer receiving bills or checks in the mail, that could mean that someone has stolen those checks or bills from your mail. If this is the case, you should reach out to the company that issues the bill or check.
If you begin to get bills for items or products that you did not purchase, your identity may have been stolen. You should contact the issuer of the bill and work to correct the bill that you believe that you should not have received. If you begin to get credit card statements for cards that you did not open, your identity was most likely stolen. You should contact the credit card company immediately to explain that you did not open the credit card and the charges are not yours. You also want to have the credit card closed as soon as possible and a freeze put on the account so it can no longer be used.
If you are being denied for credit despite the fact that you think you should have good or better credit. That could mean that someone has used your identity to open credit card accounts. They may have run up your credit card balances or opened a bunch of new credit cards in your name. If you suddenly see that money is being taken out of your account and you are not withdrawing it, your account has been compromised. You should contact your bank to try to correct the problem. If you have been notified of a data breach, then you should expect that your identity has been stolen. If that is correct, you should consider getting credit monitoring.
Get Credit Monitoring
If you want to further prevent identity theft, you should consider obtaining a credit monitoring service. They can also offer enhanced identity theft protection while watching over your credit history and send you alerts when something changes. Having a monitoring service does not prevent anyone from pulling your credit or trying to access it, but it does let you know when something has happened to your credit.
You should know that there are no clear rules on what a credit monitoring service can do and they cannot prevent identity theft. They can help you keep a watchful eye on your credit report.
What Your Credit Report Shows
You should know that your credit report shows how you have handled your money. It gives you details about if you pay your bills on time, or if they are late or not paid at all. It also notes if you have any bankruptcies or have been sued because of your debt. They do not show why you have not paid your bills because they do not tell the story. It only shows that you have not paid your bills, or that you have a large amount of debt.
Pick the Right Credit Monitoring Service
When you want to help prevent identity theft, you want to select the best credit monitoring service for you. Different services offer different types of features. You want to make sure the monitoring service you select offers some of these features, but you want to make sure you are not paying for service that you do not need.
You should understand how many credit bureaus the service monitors. There are three major credit reporting bureaus. You should make sure that the service monitors all three of them. That way you know what is happening across all of those agencies. While you want to find the most affordable monitoring service, the least expensive one is not always the best option for you. You want to make sure you are buying a service that can give what it promises to give you.
This is your personal information and you want to make sure that it is in good hands. You should pick a service that has a proven reputation. You also want to make sure that this company can help you once your data has already been stolen. You want a company that can help you repair the damage. Some monitoring services offer insurance and cover any damages as a result of having your identity stolen. You most likely will not have coverage for anything that happened prior to signing up with the service. You also may not get all the money back that you lost.
Stay Smart
One of the best ways that you can prevent identity theft is to stay smart when dealing with your identity online. There are some steps you can take to protect yourself. You should take your private off the internet as much as you can. You should shred anything that contains personal information. You want to create safe passwords by making sure they are all different and unique. You do not want them to match. You want them to be long and not easily cracked.
You want to be careful when you sell old electronics. If you are going to sell or throw away computer equipment and phones, you can restore the equipment back to its original settings. You should pay attention to spam. Those calls are coming in constantly. You have to be careful where you share information and with whom. You should not share any personal information over the phone. Remember, the IRS does not make phone calls; they only send letters. Do not share any information over the phone with anyone that contacts you.
Conclusion
I have shared a lot of information on how to prevent identity theft. All of it is important to ensure that you stay as safe as possible while navigating the internet. There are a lot of people looking for others to scam, but if you are smart, you can protect yourself. Do not click on any links that are not known to you. Do not give out any information about yourself to anyone that contacts you and you do not know who they are.