How to Prevent Identity Theft

Identity theft and identity fraud is a frightening possibility that nearly everyone who uses a credit card worries about. Everyone has heard the horror stories about people whose identities were stolen from them after losing their wallets or after a thief got a hold of their account information in some way. As the story goes, the person whose identity was stolen experienced financial doom and, after years of fighting to regain his or her identity, the person is still fighting to clear his or her name. While this scenario may not be considered to be common, it is a very real possibility for anyone that uses a credit card. Therefore, at CreditCardAssist.com, we strongly encourage credit cardholders to take appropriate steps in order to protect personal information and prevent identity theft and identity fraud from occurring.

Shred the Evidence

Many people picture corporate big wigs or financial criminals when they think of paper shredders. The truth is, every home should have a paper shredder. The information found on papers in the home - bank statements, credit card statements, check stubs, utility bills, checkbooks, the list goes on and on - is highly sensitive. If these documents are not protected, or properly disposed of, it can lead to identity theft. Therefore, one of our recommentations to preventing identity theft is to purchase a paper shredder - and to use it!

Paper shredders can be found at any office supply store. They are also generally easy to find at discount centers and supercenters, as well. In addition, smaller paper shredders that are appropriate for home use are common. The best type of shredder to get is one that is also capable of shredding credit cards. That way, old credit cards can be shredded when new ones are issued. The best part is that paper shredders are inexpensive, with many costing less than $20. The money spent on a paper shredder will more than pay for itself when it prevents identity theft from occurring. For those that still cannot afford a paper shredder or cannot find one to their liking, it is imperative they still cut up these sensitive documents with a pair of scissors before throwing them away.

Keep Documents Safe

For those documents that need to be saved rather than thrown away, it is equally important to keep them securely filed away. Most homeowners take the time to lock up their homes and their cars, but few consider the need to lock up their documents and personal files. Failing to lock these documents up in a secure location makes it far too easy for an identity thief to walk off with all of the information he or she needs to steel a person's identity.

Keep the Computer Secure

Of course, in today's day and age, a thief can also access all the necessary information on a computer. Many homeowners keep personal information on their computers. Likewise, businesses often store all the information a person needs to steal someone's identity on their computers. This includes information such as bank account numbers, tax returns, birth dates, and financial records. Therefore, there are many steps businesses and homeowners must take in order to prevent this information from being stolen.

A firewall is a necessary addition to a computer that will help prevent information from being taken from the computer. A firewall is particularly important for those with high-speed Internet access that choose to leave their computers connected to the Internet the entire day. Firewall programs prevent programs and hackers from accessing the computer without permission. Without a firewall, it is extremely simple for a hacker to not only steal information, but to completely gain control of the computer and even use it to commit crimes.

Virus protection software takes the security to a new level. The purpose of this software is to protect the computer against infections as well as intrusions. In order to function effectively, virus protection software should be set up to be automatically updated every week. This is because new viruses are developed every day and it is necessary for the computer to have the most up to date information available in order to be protected. Individuals operating on the Windows XP platform can also set their computers up to automatically check for patches to the system and to have them downloaded to the computer.

Everyone with an email address knows it is best to never open emails sent by strangers. In addition, email attachments should never be opened unless the attachment was expected. Yet, many people do it anyway! This is a fatal error that leaves the person vulnerable to identity theft. Too many viruses can disguise themselves to seem as though they are from somebody who is trusted. Opening a foreign attachment can unleash a virus onto the computer. In addition, special software called spyware can attach itself to the computer. Spyware allows someone from a remote location to gather information from the computer. This information can include financial statements and passwords, making it easy for the hacker to access information that is password protected.

To further guard against identity theft through the computer, it is important to always use a secure browser when sending sensitive information over the Internet. It is easy to identify a secure browser because an icon that looks like a padlock will appear in the status bar of the browser. A secure browser scrambles the information so a hacker cannot steal it.

Laptops should also be used with caution, since it is much easier to lose a laptop or to have it stolen. To protect against identity theft, those using a laptop should not store financial information in the computer. In addition, automatic log in features should not be used with a laptop. That simply makes it too easy for a thief to log in with the laptop. The same is true for getting ride of a personal computer. Before disposing of the computer, it is important to completely remove the information using a "wipe" utility program or by overwriting the entire hard drive. These are the only two ways of ensuring the information cannot be retrieved later and used by a thief to walk away with someone else's identity.