How Can I Protect Myself From ID Theft?

To protect yourself against Identity (ID) theft you need to be aware of how the thieves operate as well as how to protect yourself.  The thieves try to steal your identity to open accounts in your name.  Or, they’ll attempt to take over existing accounts and charge up your balance.  Here are some ways to avoid ID theft:

Account numbers – Don’t give out your account numbers unsolicited to anyone over the phone or internet. Banks don’t ask for this data over the phone or internet. If you are calling the company yourself, that is different. There are scams to get you to disclose your sensitive information. If you are paying a bill over the internet, you will have to provide your account numbers but you’re are initiating this activity.

Buying over the internet – Be aware of the person or company you are purchasing from over the internet. Do you know them? If not, you can contact the Better Business Bureau to verify and/or Google them. You should check for the yellow padlock on the bottom right hand corner of the screen for a secure site. In addition, are they using PayPal, World Pay or another recognized payment processor?

Check your statements – Verify that you made the purchases on your credit card bill. Thieves could have stolen your number without having your card.  This may be a novelty, but you should balance your checking account to verify that you wrote the checks, authorized the online bill pay and made the debit card purchases.

Secure your computer – Use anti-virus and fire walls to protect your computer from viruses. Hackers try to access you personal information and steal your identity or destroy the information on your computer.

ATM and debit cards – Be careful when you key in your PIN for your debit or ATM card at a store or ATM machine. Someone could be looking over your shoulder or taking pictures.

PINs and passwords – Don’t store PINs along with your cards in your wallet or purse.  Keep your PINs and passwords in a secure place, use passwords that are difficult to determine and change them often.  Don’t give out your passwords to anyone unless you contacted the company and they are needed for security purposes. This applies to both home and work passwords

Shred documents – Shred anything that contains your personal information such as account numbers, social security number, and date of birth, passport number, passwords and PINs. Thieves have been known to go through your trash.  Cut up your expired credit cards.

Social security number – Don’t carry your social security number around with you in your wallet. Hopefully you have put it to memory and don’t need to keep it with you.  Don’t give it out to someone unsolicited. It will be needed in a job search, but usually not until you interview for a position.

Because of the increase in ID theft, you need to be careful and think twice before you provide information to someone you don’t know or haven’t contacted.  Call the company back to verify they are legitimate. Be careful with your personal information and don’t carry keep your pins or passwords with your cards or next to the computer. Shred your personal information and cut up expired cards.

John Ulzheimer is the President of Consumer Education at SmartCredit.com, the credit blogger for Mint.com, and a Contributor for the National Foundation for Credit Counseling.  He is an expert on credit reporting, credit scoring and identity theft. Formerly of FICO, Equifax and Credit.com, John is the only recognized credit expert who actually comes from the credit industry.  Follow him on Twitter here.

Categorised in: Credit Monitoring, Credit Report, Credit Score, Identity Theft

This post was written by John Ulzheimer