The burden of finding a way to prevent identity theft falls on each of us. It seems unfair that good, honest people have to go to great lengths to protect themselves, but the reality is that identity theft is quickly becoming one of the most popular types of fraud perpetrated. Fortunately, the steps you need to take to prevent identity theft aren’t incredibly complicated. You just need to take some easy precautions, such as:
Shred trash that has personal information on it. I know it seems like a lot of effort to go through just to throw something away, but you’ll quickly get used to the extra step. Dropping those few sheets of paper into a shredder will be well worth the added security you can enjoy.
Don’t log into private websites through public internet sources. If you want to surf the net at the library, I’m all for it. Don’t, however, balance your checkbook at the library. Another problem is using WiFi to access your personal sites. Take care of those types of things in the comfort of your own home.
Never give your social security number out in public places. If you’re on your cell phone and speaking to your credit card company’s customer service folks, stay in your car. Don’t go into a shop while you’re taking care of business. Write your number down on forms yourself, rather than rattling it off to someone else to write down. You don’t have to be cranky about it; just offer to jot it down yourself. You never know who is listening to you.
Try to avoid using your social security number as ID numbers for other services. When I was in school, this was tough because the University used our social as our student ID’s. Now, though, this is much simpler. Most of the time you can just ask to use an alternative number.
Don’t carry your social security card with you every day. If you’re going to need your card, by all means put it in your wallet and do what you need to do. Don’t, however, leave it there for the long haul. Once you get home, take it out and put it back into a safe place. We keep a fire safe in our home for our passports, social security cards, birth certificates, and other secure documents.
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3 responses so far ↓
1 Money Beagle // May 13, 2009 at 8:36 am
This is good advice. Adding to the speaking in public aspect, make sure if you make calls at work, that you’re careful. I know I’ll sometimes call about health benefits or whatever, and you might not realize some of the information that you’re speaking out loud with people all around you. While it might seem that your co-workers are trustworthy, you never know what troubles or motivations people have. You can never be too careful!
2 identity protect // May 14, 2009 at 11:24 am
Many people assume that the crime came about due to the Internet. The fact is, identity theft has been around for probably as long as there have been identities to steal. These fraudulent people never chooses any time and place as long as they can take advantage from others for their own profits.
3 Paper Shredder // May 15, 2009 at 5:49 pm
Money Beagle makes a good point. I am always mindful of who is around me when I speak about my information. I’m also paranoid about using the cell phone to make such calls but it is almost an necessity nowadays.
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