Don’t think, though, that you have to give up shopping online, altogether. Although nothing will completely eliminate your risks while shopping on the internet, there are some steps you can take to minimize your exposure to these risks.

When shopping online, be sure to look for the website’s security policy. Most internet retailers are aware of their customers’ concerns and will explain exactly how the company protects their customers’ information. Expect to find discussions that indicate that the retailer encrypts customer information and that it’s a secure site.

Choose one credit card to pay for your internet purchases. If you have the misfortune of having your credit card information stolen, you’ll only have to cancel your credit card. Never use your debit card online; you don’t want thieves to have access to your checking account.

Don’t use public computers to shop on the internet. Some web browsers store your information and could be accessed by someone else with the skills to harvest that information.

Never email your credit card information whether you’re sending it to a retailer or a friend. Email servers are usually not as secure as the type of software used to process credit card information.

Try to choose well-known retailers when shopping online. The larger retailers will have the experience and capital to invest in their website’s security processes to make sure that they are utilizing the latest in internet security. If you just have to have something you find at a smaller website, consider calling their customer service line and giving them your information via the phone.

Using a PayPal account to pay for your internet purchases is a way to add an extra layer of security in your internet purchases. Many of the smaller, less secure, websites will allow you to use PayPal to process your payments to them.

Remember that when shopping on the internet to use your common sense when selecting your retailers. If a website doesn’t feel professional, you should probably trust your instincts and look for your product elsewhere.

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In a perfect world, the things you actually should carry in wallet lie somewhere in between these two stereotypes. There are definitely items that you should have with you at all times. But you also don’t need to have everything with you. In the event that your wallet is lost or stolen, minimizing the things in your wallet will help you contain the damage you will face.

Things you should carry in your wallet include:

Your Drivers License – It’s important to have valid identification with you at all times.

Your Auto Insurance Card – If you’re driving, you’ll be required to be have proof of insurance with you.

Cash – Although you don’t want to carry too much cash, it is nice to have a minimal amount with you.

One Debit or Credit Card – Carrying multiple credit cards with you is like an invitation to identity thieves to have a field day with your wallet. However, if your car breaks down, you’ll be glad to have a way to pay for a tow to your mechanic’s shop. Remember this card is for emergencies, not indulgences.

Medical Emergency Information – Allergies and medical conditions you have could be very important information if you become ill or are in an accident. Having that information with you could save emergency workers valuable time.

Things you should NOT carry in your wallet include:

Your Social Security Card – Never carry your social security card with you as a routine. If you need to provide it to an employer or to show it at a Social Security office, carry it with your for that particular day. Once you get home again, make sure you pull it back out of your wallet and put it safely away.

Tons of Credit Cards – Don’t stuff your wallet full with credit cards. You might be tempted to have them all with you just in case you need them. You’re much more likely to use your credit cards if you have them with you when you feel the shopping urge.

Your Birth Certificate – Like your social security card, your birth certificate should only be taken out of your home when there is a specific need. Very rarely will you need to present it to anyone.

Contact Information Cards – When you buy a new wallet, the wallet often includes one of those blank cards for you to write all of your vital information on. The premise is that if you lose your wallet someone will see the card and call you. Unfortunately, the other possibility is that some one will find the wallet, your credit card, and your private information.

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But how do you decide which shredder will suit your needs. Although there are a variety of shredders on the market, you should probably look for a few specific features while you’re shopping for your shredder.

Cross-Cut Feature – Some shredders shred pages into long strips. Unfortunately, the determined criminal with too much time on his hands would piece these strips back together to discover the information you were taking such care to hide. A cross-cutting shredder will help eliminate some of this risk by cutting the strips down into much smaller pieces.

Media Shredder – While you’re choosing your shredder, try to look for one that will shred more than paper. Some shredders also have the capacity to shred credit cards and even CD’s and DVD’s.

Bin Size – Think about the amount of shredding you will do. If you will only be shredding the occasional document, you don’t need to be too worried about the size of the bin attached to your shredder. However, if you use your shredder for work or foresee a lot of shredding in your future, you might want to opt for a shredder with a large bin. The last thing you want to do is make ten trips to empty the bin in one day.

Page Intake – Along with bin size, the number of pages your shredder will accept at one time can seriously limit the speed with which you can complete your shredding tasks. Some budget-priced shredders can only accept five pages at a time, but others can take as many as seventeen pages. Be sure to consider how many pages you’ll want to shred at any time when selecting your shredder.

Ultimately, using any shredder to help you dispose of your private information is better than using no shredder at all. But if you’re going to be purchasing a new one, be sure to evaluate how you will use your shredder and pick one that will protect you and your information.

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Although the type of products offered to customers are very effective at flagging identity theft and cleaning up its mess, in this case an ounce of prevention really is worth a pound of cure. No action is guaranteed to eliminate the risk of identity theft, but there are some ways you can reduce the risk.

1. Be picky about the way that you use your social security number. You shouldn’t make a habit of carrying it with you, whether on your social security card or another piece of identification. You should also avoid giving your social security number to anyone on the phone. Companies that you regularly deal with may ask for a portion of your social security number to verify whom they are speaking to, but you shouldn’t be asked to give out the entire number.

2. Inspect your credit card receipts to be certain that they don’t disclose your entire credit card number. Most businesses have moved to printing only the last four numbers on receipts, but you should be on the lookout for those that haven’t made that adjustment just yet. Mark through all but the final four numbers if they appear on the receipt. Retailers don’t need the additional numbers, and you’ll keep anyone who has custody of the receipts from having custody of your credit card number.

3. Purchase a shredder. More inexpensive than ever, a small personal shredder will allow you to safely dispose of unnecessary paper without giving out personal records. In addition, many shredder models now have the ability to shred expired credit cards.

4. Only shop on secure internet sites. Most websites have a link to their security information; make sure that any website you shop on has enlisted the latest security tools to safeguard your personal information.

5. Be on the lookout for bogus emails requesting your personal information. These emails appear to be from trusted websites like Ebay or Paypal, but they’re just ploys to gather your private information. The emails will say things like “Your account is in jeopardy. You must follow this link to our site and verify your information.” When you do as you were directed, you really end up visiting their website and giving them your information.

Remember that the best way to determine if the email is genuine is to open your browser and go directly to the website in question. If there really is a problem with your account, you should be able to get to the same message without following any email links. Otherwise, you can be fairly certain the email was fraudulent. To be certain, consider forwarding the email to the actual company’s fraud department. They will verify that the email isn’t from them.

Tips like these and a little common sense are certain to help you avoid exposure to identity theft. By being careful about what information you release to others and when you do it, you can sleep soundly knowing that you’ve lowered your risk.

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Thankfully, my husband and I have considered this scenario before and had taken some steps that would help us if this situation were to arise. This is a very easy system to implement but can really be handy in the event your wallet is lost or stolen.

1. Took inventory of our wallets. We took everything out of our wallets and decided what needed to be in there and what was better left at home in a safe place. The “keep in the wallet” category included one credit card, debit card, driver’s license, auto insurance card, medical insurance cards, and store discount/membership cards. We do not carry our social security cards in our wallets nor any other information that contains our social security number. We know now exactly what information is in our wallets and who we would need to notify in case of loss or theft.

2. Photocopied the items that remained in our wallets. Using our home photocopier, we copied both the back and front of all the cards that remained in our wallet. The front of these cards provide us with the account numbers and the back of the cards give the contact numbers of whom to call if they are lost or stolen. This information is then stored securely at home where we keep our other personal information. We used our home photocopier to ensure that our personal information stayed that way - private. I’ve mentioned previously some concerns about the security of copiers so it is prudent to make sure that your information is secure on the copier you are using.

In the event of theft, we would need to contact a lot of different places, so we developed a list of who we would need to contact and the appropriate phone number. These are listed on a sheet of paper that we keep with the above photocopied information:

1. Credit bureaus. We have the phone numbers for each of the credit bureaus. We would contact each one and ask that a fraud alert be placed. (The agencies are supposed to contact each other when an alert is placed but we would contact each individually to make sure they have all been notified.)
Equifax: 1-800-525-6285; Experian: 1-888-EXPERIAN (397-3742); TransUnion: 1-800-680-7289; (Source: Federal Trade Commission).

2. Local police department. We have the contact number for the police department and we would file a report of the theft and keep a copy of that report for documentation purposes.

3. Driver’s license bureau. We would contact them to let them know the license was stolen and then we would need to go and get a replacement license with a new number.

4. Social security office. We don’t carry anything that would compromise our social security number. However, if we felt that our numbers had been stolen, we have the appropriate contact numbers listed.

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Since we were using our visa card a lot, we wanted to be sure that everything that was charged to our account was initiated by us (i.e. that our account had not been compromised). After verifying the charges to our visa card, we verified our checking account as well, making sure that all debit charges were correct. We will continue to monitor our accounts closely. We do our banking with a local credit union and in the past they have called us to verify charges on our account. However, we aren’t going to rely strictly on their identity theft preventions; we intend to be pro-active as possible.

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Identity thieves are constantly on the prowl for personal financial information. Just yesterday I wrote about protecting yourself when using a copier, and you need to take as many precautions as possible. This includes protecting personal information such as name, address, phone number, social security numbers, bank account numbers, etc. We’ve made it a habit to shred all material that has any personal information on it. Here is a list of items that we shred:

1. Credit card offers that we receive in the mail. Don’t want these falling into the wrong hands. Same thing for all those home equity line offers we receive.

2. Medical bills and/or medical benefit summaries. Many times these medical bills or benefit statements contain social security numbers and/or other private financial information. Make sure you shred all information with your children’s information as well. Identity thieves are targeting the social security numbers of children, because it is usually a long time before their crime is discovered.

3. Store receipts that contain credit card or debit card information. Even though most of these only show partial numbers, we shred them anyway.

4. Old bank statements. We keep bank statements for one year and then shred the older statements.

5. Old mutual fund reports. These reports are kept for one year and then shredded. Of course, anything that is tax related stays with the tax file which is not disposed of.

6. Old 401K statements. Same as the above documents. We keep these for one year (year end summaries are kept longer because we like to compare year to year increases). Anything older than one year heads to the shredder.

7. Old paycheck stubs. Anything older than one year goes to the shredder.

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So what can you do to protect yourself?

1. Ask your tax preparer or the copy shop if the copiers they use have any type of security encryption device installed. Some, but not all, copier manufacturers are including this type of security with their digital copiers.

2. Be careful where you make a copy of sensitive personal information such as your tax return or any other document which contains financial data. The library, your office, or even the local copy shop may not be secure enough.

3. Use your home printer/copier if you have one. If ever I’ve seen an argument for buying a home copier, this would have to be the top one.

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