Tips for Protecting Yourself Against Identity Theft
Posted on | August 26, 2008 |
You may be asking yourself, “Why do I have to protect myself against identity theft?” Everyone is a potential victim of identity fraud, and if rates continue to rise, soon everyone will know at least one person who has been a victim of identity theft. This is the sad truth of the world today. Protecting yourself against identity theft just makes sense.
The mail comes every week day and seems innocent enough, a function of life. While most of the mail that you receive is from companies that you’ve dealt with for years, not all mail that you receive is on the up and up. You might get bills or invitations to participate in offers based on your hard-won credit rating. Thieves also target financially stable individuals with offers that look official but are really just an attempt to obtain your personal details.
One way that you can reduce the risk of this occuring is to monitor the times your bills are sent. You can also try to reduce the amount of mail you receive. The biggest weapon you have is just being aware of what’s possible.
Telephone and other utility bills always display customer addresses, account numbers, and telephone numbers. All this information can be useful to an identity thief, as can the information stolen from a driver’s license renewal or monthly credit card statement. Remember one of the best rules to prevent identity theft: what you throw away can hurt you.
A wealth of information can be found on pay stubs, bank statements and pre-approved credit card offers. Did you know that these private documents contain your name, address and account numbers?
All this information is dangerous in the wrong hands. Pre-approved credit card offers also give would-be thieves the upper hand, and paycheck stubs from direct deposits give away your employer’s name and address as well. Sometimes, even your pay rate and social security number will be included on the stub. Rather than crumple these documents and throw them away, invest in a shredder to fight against identity theft.
Thieves even go as far as digging through your trash — a practice called “Dumpster Diving” — to get that one little piece of information that could turn you into a victim of identity theft.
So beware, do your due diligence against identity theft, and shred anything that has information about you. If someone is diving in your dumpster, all they should find are food scraps.
Comments
Leave a Reply