Identify Theft | Preventing Fraud and Protecting Yourself
Many eRollover readers have expressed a concern about Identity Theft. While Identity Theft is outside the scope of our normal conversations, I would like to address the issue and explain how your credit profile, banking information, or Identity can be hijacked.
Today, Identity fraud has become one of the most common consumer thefts of the decade. It has been featured in different kinds of magazines and tv shows. It appears that each year the quantity of cases being released increase drastically. In America alone, over 27 million cases are now being filed every year and it's still constantly increasing. Actually, this past year of 2009, a record number of cases of identity theft were reported, taking place even with people more aware of this kind of crime. This is indeed really alarming.
This increase in identity theft is also because of the fact that the majority of the purchases are performed through the internet. Usually bank cards are the ones with high risk since they know your personal information they might easily use your card to buy over the internet. Now, to be able to prevent Identity fraud I've listed the primary things you can do to stop this from happening to your household. Keep in mind that if you follow these things you will prevent identity theft no less than 90% of the time. So please take note of the information I am planning to share with you. Knowledge is power yet again.
1. Information Know-how
Now this is essential, you need to be extremely cautious about how much information you are handing out to the public. It can be on the internet or hard copies of any identification documents. So in order to be aware about the situation you just have to limit how much information you give out, especially on the world wide web. Don’t publish all of your personal information online.
Yet another thing is you ought not allow anyone to copy or use your identification files without proper reason. Plus, always deal with an official sanction of a company. Do not try to deal with individuals that don’t appear to have any official capacity, and you can also check up onthe person by calling up the company. Shred any financial papers you receive before disposing of them in the trash. This includes any solicitation notices that you might receive for any charge cards or mail from other financial institutions. Lastly, don’t bring your Social Security Card (or Identification number) along with you unless it’s absolutely critical.
2. Report Odd Credit Info
This is a very important component of preventing identity fraud. Usually, those people who are mixed up in cases believe they could be subjected to identity fraud problems, unfortunately they don’t follow their gut instinct. The telltale signs are monthly expenses that show up in your bank card statements, so check your credit card transactions to make certain that all transactions are created by you and when there is a discrepancy, immediately call the business to stop any fraud from continuing further.
In conclusion, look at your credit report at least annually to ensure your information (and credit standing) is correct. It is a must for most people nowadays and it does not take much of your time and effort to do this now that this process can be done online. That’s why it is essential that you exercise these guidelines and relate them to friends and family to stop any of identity theft problems in the future.
3. Do Your Research on an Identity Theft Provider
There are a number of identity theft providers out there right now. Make sure that you do a review to make sure that you pick your carrier wisely. A great resource for comparison purposes can be found at http://www.nextadvisor.com/identity_theft_protection_services/compare.php
