How do you avoid identity theft?

The fastest growing crime, and possibly the defining crime of the 21st century, is identity theft. Identity theft is a problem that is not going to go away, and it is important that you know how to protect yourself from becoming a victim of this terrible crime. By not being a victim, you can keep yourself from having your credit completely destroyed by greedy individuals who use our digital society to their full advantage.

First thing first, you should under no circumstances fall for phishing. Phishing is the process by which a con artist will send you an e-mail or call you, and state that there is a problem with your account and you need to enter in your password and username to fix it. Once you enter this information in on the website, which comes from a link in the e-mail, you will find that you have just given your information to a con artist. They can then use that information to log into your bank account, credit account and other accounts to steal your money and your identity.
When you are throwing your financial records away, do not just put them in the trash. Some identity thieves will actually dumpster dive and take your papers so that they can use them for their identity theft purposes. When you throw your items away, make sure you shred them by using a crisscrossing shredder. This type of shredder cuts both vertically and horizontally so that it is very hard to piece back together.

Identity thieves will also steal your mail out of your mailbox, and even call your billing companies and change the mailing address from your address to their address. That way, they can begin using your information to get credit cards, loans and to destroy your credit without you even realizing it.Therefore, instead of having your bills mailed to you, you should sign up for online billing so the mail comes to your e-mail address. That way, you will be able to see your bills, save paper, and keep yourself from becoming a victim of identity theft. Practicing online banking and having your bank statement sent to your e-mail address is a very good idea as well. Bank statements are one of the gold mines for identity thieves, so don’t just leave it sitting in your mail box.

Further to that, you should never carry your social security number with you when you go out. Unless you are going to use your social security number for something, you should have it at home in a safe, or in a safe deposit box at the bank. The same applies to your credit cards and other identification items. Unless you are going to need them, leave them in a safe at home so that if you are robbed, you will not lose your important items. In addition, have photocopies, front and back, of all your identification cards and everything in your wallet in case it is stolen.

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