Preventing Identity Theft

What Can You Do to Prevent Identity Theft?

Are you familiar with the expression “an ounce of prevention is worth a pound of cure”? This is absolutely true in regards to protecting your identity from being stolen rather than dealing with the trauma and cost of being a victim.

It must be stated here that there are no guarantees that the steps you take will prevent your identity from being stolen. Personal information is available from sources (including government, employment and other business records) that we are not in a position to personally protect.

Taking steps to limit the use of our personal information makes it more difficult to become a target. Proper disposal of personal records and other common sense steps will also thwart any opportunistic thieves.

Here are some steps that every individual should incorporate into the management of their personal information. What you choose to implement will depend on how much time or energy you want to use in protecting your information. Making conscious decisions as to how or when our personal information is shared will give us more control and should become a lifelong habit.

If you live in the United States you are entitled to one free credit report every 12 months from each of the nationwide consumer credit reporting companies (Equifax, Experian & TransUnion). An easy way to monitor your credit throughout the year is to request a report every four months from each of the three credit agencies in turn. It is wise to check your credit report at least once every year even if you must pay to receive it. If you suspect your identity has been stolen or have received notice of information that has been stolen you may be able to get free reports throughout the first year of the incident. You can request your free credit report at www.annualcreditreport.com, or to get more information.

Social Security Numbers, birth certificates, passports or any other personal identification should not be carried in your wallet. The same goes for extra credit cards and store or gas credit cards. The less you carry the less risk if your wallet is stolen or lost.

You can stop the mailing of pre-approved credit offers by calling toll-free
888-5OPTOUT (888-567-8688). Ask to have your name removed from the list as pre-approved credit offers can be easily abused by thieves.

If you do throw away pre-approved credit offers or other personal information (such as old tax forms, bank statements or expired credit cards) you must shred the information before disposing it.

Pick Up the Mail EVERY Day

Don’t allow mail to sit overnight in the mail box or you give thieves an easy target. Credit card offers, bank statements and possibly information with your SSN can be used to open new credit in your name or steal from you.

If you are contacted by a bank or service provider through email you must never submit any personal or financial information to them. These attempts to ‘trick’ you into believing they are a legitimate business is called phishing.

If an email claims that you must validate your information and provides you a link to the form DO NOT OPEN THE LINK! If you are concerned that the request may be legitimate close the email and enter the URL to the actual business in your browser window. If your account looks fine contact their customer service department to verify the email. A fraudulent email is called a ‘spoof’ and the company will likely want you to forward it to them.

Unless you initiate a call to a business you should never give personal or financial information to a caller over the phone. Your bank or Credit Card company will not ask for your card or account number if they call you. They have that information on file.

If a caller portrays themselves to be representing a charity or offering a prize or trip you can ask for a phone number to call back. Verify the phone number and hang up. If they are with a reputable organization you will be able to check the number and call back.

Telemarketing scams that ask for credit card deposits, account information or personal information such as your mother’s maiden name, your SSN or other information are common. If you wish to donate it is better to call the organization yourself.

Credit card companies like Visa offer added protection by allowing you to create a password along with the card number when making a purchase. Even if your card is stolen you can prevent thieves from using it by having it password protected.

Be Aware of Who Has Access

Don’t give passwords to credit cards or other personal information to friends and family. According to a survey done by www.idtheftcener.org the victim respondents indicated that 43% of them thought they knew the imposter. About 34% were aware that the thief had a history of needing money to support a drug, drinking, gambling or shopping addiction.

Only shop at merchants you are familiar with or contact the Better Business Bureau. Look for secure shopping sites with identifying marks such as https appearing in the browser window or a lock icon appearing below the webpage on your browser.

Never give PIN numbers or passwords to the merchant. Verify your bank statements immediately online or over the phone to check the transaction was made for the proper amount and no other charges were made. Be sure to have anti-virus and anti-spyware programs running and always print out the transaction record, log out and close the browser when completed.

Read more about Online Privacy in the following chapter.

Whenever you are asked for personal information you have a right to know why it is needed and how it will be used. Online you may find that information in a Privacy Policy (read about that in the chapter ‘How to Read a Privacy Policy’).

Limit the use of your personal information by requesting financial institutions not to share your information with affiliates. This is called ‘opting-out’ and the financial institution must allow you to do so. Once you have requested to opt-out, either on the phone or in writing, they must never share your information unless you specifically request they do so.

When you do receive a new credit or debit card sign it immediately and never carry it unsigned.

Don’t save passwords to personal information (such as online banking) in a program that ‘remembers’ your information. Remove cookies from your computer and have your hard drive professionally ‘wiped’ before disposing it.

Use strong passwords – that means a combination of letters and numbers that can’t be easily guessed. Never use information such as your mother’s maiden name or birth date that can be figured out by thieves.

Set your browser security settings to Medium or higher. Install a firewall to prevent unwanted access from hackers and install anti-virus and anti-spyware programs. Never download software when you don’t know where it’s from and never click on pop-ups or spam email.