How To Protect Yourself From Identity Theft

One of the fastest growing crimes in the world is Identity theft. One of the key reasons why this type of crime has become so popular has a lot to do with the availability of our personal information.

With the dawn of the internet we use our personal details for a lot of things from filling out an application for a loan, a house insurance quote and the swipe of out credit card provides more opportunities for identity thieves to steal our personal information. For this reason knowing how to protect yourself from identity theft is becoming essential.

In order to know how to avoid identity theft you first of all need to understand the different ways that it can be committed. Below are the most common ways people fall victim of identity theft.

Lack of Online Protection

Most of use a computer these days and most homes have at least one. Online ID theft is still relatively low compared to banking account and credit card fraud. However, the exposure to identity theft online is growing. A popular method that criminals use is email'phishing'. This commonly involves a criminal sending out a mass of emails to people.

This email contains a link which  people are requested to click on to update their banking details . They will be taken to  professional looking site and asked to fill out a form with details about their passwords, bank account and social security numbers. A real bank will never request you to update your personal details on line and why would they? They already have your details.

If you have a personal computer which you use for online banking or purchasing products and services online then you should invest in spyware and malware software that can offer you more protection. Also using your common sense and due diligence can be an effective way of  preventing identity theft. For example, do not click on urls that you do not trust especially from an email or even the results from a search engine. It is safer to type the URL address into your browser.

Identity Theft Prevention

Many people who have become a victim of ID fraud use identity theft protection services provided by their banks or specialist companies. The main concept of these services is fraud alerts or early warning systems. They monitor your bank and credit card accounts and credit files and alert you of any suspicious or fraudulent activity via text, email or phone. These services can be useful in limiting the damage of identity fraud.

Another to way to  avoid identity theft is to use a credit freeze. What is this means is that you freeze your account or credit limit. This prevents a criminal from using your account because the bank will need permission from you in order to unfreeze or open the credit line again. The only downside to this strategy is that you cannot open up any new accounts as long as the credit freeze is enforced.

Check Your Free Credit Report

Checking your credit reports on a regular is a good habit to acquire as you can quickly see if any suspicious transactions have been made against your name. Your credit report contains important financial information about your credit history. This information is collected from all your creditors by the three major consumer credit bureaus, Experian, TransUnion and Equifax.

Included in this report are your personal details, the types if credit accounts you have and your monthly payments. You file also records the transactions and purchases you make. Always keep a record of your credit card statements and receipts and compare these with your report. If any things thing looks suspicious then contact your bank immediately.

In the past their was a fee to pay to obtain your report but since the passing of the Fair Trade Act you can obtain all three of your reports fom the FTC site www.annualcreditreport.com . Checking your reports too often could damage your credit score therefore, space you requests out by 4 months each.

Buy A Shredder

It is amazing how many people throw out their bank statements, utility bills and debt card receipts without shredding them. These pieces of paper contain all the information and more a criminal needs to steel your identity and cause havoc with your financial future. This goes for businesses as well.

Many criminals will go to the trouble of hoking through your garbage for mortgage and phone statements and sell this on to organized criminal syndicates. For this reason, invest in a shredder and shred all you statements or anything thing that contains your name, address, phone numbers, account numbers etc.

How to protect yourself from identity theft does not take a lot effort. Simple things like buying a shredder and using this can go along way to lowering your risk of becoming a victim and also giving you that peace of mind.