What You Need To Know To Protect Yourself From Identity Theft
You wouldn’t go driving down the highway during rush hour with a blindfold on, would you? Hopefully not (and if you do, please let me know what roads you drive on). If you do not protect yourself from identity theft, that’s basically the same as driving blindfolded. Don’t think identity theft can never happen to you because you are too well educated or too poor. Identity theft can happen to anybody from all walks of life. According to The President’s Identity Theft Task Force, about 10 million Americans become victims of identity theft a year. The good news is you can protect yourself from identity theft for free and by using your common sense.
Know Your Credit Report
One of the best things you can do to protect yourself from identity theft is get an annual credit report. You are allowed to get three free credit reports a year from Equifax, TransUnion and Experian. You can find more information at AnnualCreditReport.com. In this way, you can find out as soon as possible if there are any questionable transactions on any of your accounts, or if someone is trying to take a loan out in your name! The sooner you can spot the work of an identity thief, the sooner you can get things sorted out.
Also, keep track of your monthly bank or credit card statements. They will also show any questionable transactions and protect you from identity theft.
Keep Alert
Cash is valuable, right? Well, so is your driver’s license, Social Security card and laptop computer. Think of them as valuable as cash - they certainly are to a thief! Keep physical contact on them at all times when you are outside your home. Don’t leave them unsupervised of sitting on the seats in a locked car even for a few minutes.
Don’t Get Hooked By Phishing Emails
Suppose you get an email from your bank’s security department saying there was a problem and they need some information from you, including your account number and passwords. That is not your bank emailing you - that’s a phishing email, hoping you’ll bite at the fake email which leads you to a perfect mimic of a legitimate bank or online service’s website. Not responding to these emails is a big step to protect yourself from identity theft. And, if you were like me and did to an eBay mimic email (ulp), contact eBay right away to freeze your account and get your password changed. Thankfully, nothing happened to me except learning a valuable lesson on how to protect myself from identity theft.
