Many people are leaving wide open doors to be victims of identity theft. In this article I will outline what identity theft is all about, how identity theft occurs, and simple things you can do to protect yourself and your family from becoming a victim of identity theft.

What is Identity Theft?

Identity theft is the act of illegally impersonating another party through the use of their personally identifiable information, such as their name, physical address, Social Security number, driver’s license number, credit card number, telephone number or email address without their approval. The identity thieves are after your personal information to use your creditability to open credit cards, buy houses, and get telephone accounts, all in your name, just to name a few.

How Does Identity Theft Occur?

There are many ways identity theft can occur. Given the widespread use of technology and the ignorance many people have when it comes to sharing their personal information online, identity theft has never been easier.

Tricks Identity Thieves Use To Capture Your Personal Information

1. Old fashioned mail interception/ Dumpster Diving:
Mail interception is when thieves drive by houses and look for people who have left their mail out when they go on vacation. These crooks will “collect your mail for you” and try to cash in on your data. As far as dumpster diving is concerned, this is when the thieves go through your trash looking for information that can be useful to them, such as credit card offers and old bills.
2. Phishing:
Not as popular as it once was in the early 2000’s. However, many scammers still use this method because it is still effective. This is most commonly achieved by the hacker sending you a link via email or social network that claims to be your bank or credit card company. When you click on the link, you are taken to a site that looks just like the legitimate company. However, when you look closely at the URL you will see that it is not pointing to your bank or Credit Card Company.
3. Phone Phishing:
This is when the scammer calls your phone, impersonating your bank or Credit Card Company. They will normally claim some reason why they must gain access to your account, and they want you to validate the information that they have on file. This involves you giving them your personal information so that they can steal your identity.

How To Protect Yourself From Identity Thieves

There are many things that you can do to protect yourself from identity thieves.
1. Old fashioned mail interception/ Dumpster Diving:
Shred all mail that has personally identifiable information. If you are going on vacation, have the post office stop your mail delivery or put your neighbors to work and have them collect your mail.
2. Phishing:
Your bank will almost never ask you to change your account number or log-in credentials. Always check the URL of sites that you are on to make sure that that you are actually on your bank’s website.
3. Phone Phishing:
If you ever receive a call from someone claiming to be your bank’s representative, collect information from them and tell them you will call them back. Call your bank immediately and give them that information. Never give personal information to people who call you or show up at your door.
4.Free Credit Report:
Take advantage of the free annual credit report to keep tabs on your credit profile.
5. Freeze Your credit:
If you do not have plans to use your credit. Why not get it frozen?
6. DNS Security:
Sign up for services such as Open DNS and Norton 360 on your home internet network and install security software to provide a primary layer of defense.
7. Software:
Get security software added to your computer to provide a second layer of defense.

Precautions to take when using social media, such as Facebook, to prevent yourself from becoming a victim

• Do not friend your mother. “Friending” your mother can potentially give hackers information about you because most credit agencies and banks will use your mother’s maiden name as a security question.
• Do not list the places that you have gone to college, especially if you have a student loan.
• Do not share your personal phone number online that you use to conduct business.
• Do not show pictures of recent major purchases. Again, credit card companies use such information to personally identify you and crooks know that as well.
• Do not share your physical address.

What do you think? Did I miss a point that you thought would be of benefit to our readers? Share in the comments section below.

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