Lately there has been quite a bit of commotion made regarding identity theft, and many companies trying to profit from those individuals who are concerned about this phenomenom.  According to the Federal Trade Commission, there are an estimated 9 million cases of identity fraud each year.  Unfortunately, there are many unscrupulous people in the world who are looking to take advantage of unsuspecting individuals, and there are just as many people who do not believe that such an event can happen to them.  Just to be sure there are several measures you can take without spending your hard earned money on so-called “watchdog” firms. zoloft morning in the evening or

The first and possible most important step would be to invest in a shredder–and not simply an older, strip-cut model.  The smaller and more jagged the pieces that a shredder can create, the more difficult it would be to piece any documents together.  At the very least, you should purchase a cross-cut model, if not a more finely shredding diamond-cut machine.  Shred every piece of mail (including junk mail) especially if you don’t even open some items.  That includes bank, credit card, and loan statements, bills, solicitations, anything that can potentially be used to steal your identity.

When shopping or banking online, always check the address bar to verify that you are connected securely.  there are several ways to check this.  Either the address of the site would change from the standard hytpertect protocol (http) to a secure version (https), and more recently the address bar itself would change color and even split into multiple sections signifying a secure connection.

When using e-mail, never transmit sensitive information with taking steps to ensure privacy and security.  One methos would be to create a file that is password protected and upload the document as an attachment rather than enter the information directly into the body of a message.  Also, since the instances of phishing have begun to explode, anytime you click through a link in an e-mail message, specifically from financial institutions or other sites that require log-on credentials, ensure that the web address is that of the site you expect to navigate to.  If you are unsure, always skip clicking the link, and instead open your browser and navigate to the site directly.

Never give out personal information freely to anyone.  If a store asks for your phone number, kindly refuse their request stating that if you would like to sign up for their mailing list you will do so at your own discretion and convenience.  If someone calls claiming to be from a bank as for all of their information(ie badge/id number, location, etc.) and ask them to provide some information to verify that they are indeed who they claim to be.

If you use the ATM machine on a regular basis, be sure to always be aware of your surroundings.  Try to change the times and locations of the ATMs that you withdraw from.  Never throw away receipts of any kind–always shred them.

Regularly check your credit report.  In this case, spending a couple of dollars to review your file and verify that everything contained in the report is indeed your information is vital.  Pay close attention to prior addresses as well as closed lines of credit, as some thieves will only keep a false account open temporarily in order to avoid getting caught.  Also be sure to review bank and credit card statements to ensure that all withdrawals and charges are your own.

By taking preventative measures, not only could you be saving yourself the aggrivation and headache of being a victim, you will also be preserving your good name and credit rating.  Most of the measures outlined above can be done without spending any money, and therefore doing the job of such “watchdog” companies while keeping the fees in your own pockets.

This entry was posted on Monday, March 24th, 2008 at 11:15 pm and is filed under Uncategorized. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can leave a response, or trackback from your own site.