Ten Tips for Identity Theft Prevention

Imagine to your horror opening up your monthly credit card statement only to find that your credit card purchases are double what you thought they were.  Credit card theft and identity theft are one of America’s fastest growing crimes.  Although more than just credit cards, Social Security Cards and other information can be gleaned from various documents.

Avoid being one of the estimated 70 million identities that will be stolen this year by using the following simple tips:

1. Keep track of credit cards, debit cards at all times.  When traveling check and double check the receipt to ensure that one transaction has been placed.  Also some receipts print the name, and account number on the receipt.  Be extra vigilant when tossing these items in the trash.  Destroy or shred the paper so the account number can not be retrieved.  A simple crumple just won’t do.

2. Use ATMs located in bank lobbies. These ATMs have monitoring cameras and are less likely to have skimmers installed.  Also ‘shoulder surfers’ are more likely at stores and unmonitored kiosks.

3. Do not share information on on-line social networking sites. Facebook, MySpace etc have millions of people surfing for information such as full name, place of birth, address etc.  This information, if in the wrong hands, can be detrimental.

4. Destroy bank statements and credit card applications.  If you receive bank statements in the mail, prior to tossing them in the trash, shred them.  Some statements are several pages and include advertisements.  All the pages contain sensitive information and often have your bank number on them.  It is important to destroy any information that goes into the trash to prevent some enterprising individual from getting your account information.

5. Carry your credit cards in an alternative place other than your purse or wallet.

Tougher Laws

In a recent case a 31 year old man in Wichita County, Texas, faces a 35 year prison sentence for identity theft.  Previous laws would have capped the theft at two years.  Now however, with new laws in place there is a greater punishment for the possession of other people’s ID.

Trying to use a stolen credit card at a local department store, the store manager and two police officers confronted him in the parking lot.  During that time he was in possession of stolen Social Security Cards, credit cards, check book and a driver’s license.

What to Do?

If you find that your identity gets stolen there is a host of agencies and institutions that you must contact.  Document everything and keep a log of conversations, dates, times and peoples names.  It may seem silly at the time but it will speed things along.

• Immediately put a freeze on your credit report.  This will prevent any new creditors from accessing your credit history and thereby denying credit to anyone who attempts to open a line of credit for any reason against your name.

• Put a fraud alert on your credit report.  Attaching a fraud alert on your report can be done over the telephone and identifies your account as being infiltrated.

• Contact banks and other financial institutions to let them know what has happened.  Talk to the fraud specialist and talk to them about your identity theft.  Get information about disputing erroneous charges made to your accounts.

• Talk with the police.

• Contact other agencies such as Social Security Office, Department of Motor Vehicles, Employment Office, Other government agencies.

If you have had credit cards or identity stolen you must act quickly and vigilantly to recoup and restore your personal and financial information.

Related Posts:

• Identity Theft – Fastest Growing Crime in the US - Identified by the Federal Trade Commission as the fastest growing crime in the US, identity theft has proven to be very difficult...
• Don’t Be a Victim of Identity Theft and Fraud - It is amazing to me to hear the stories of people that were victims of identity theft and the ongoing troubles it...
• Are You Really At Risk of Identity Theft? - We constantly hear about all of the things that we need to do to protect ourselves from identity theft. Are these warnings...
• Better Business Bureau Taking Action Against Identity Theft - Building up credit history takes time, persistence and responsibility but if you fail to protect those years of hard work it can...

This entry was posted on Monday, February 8th, 2010 at 1:00 pm and is filed under Card Security. 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.