10 Great Ways to Deter Identity Thieves
A successful identity thief stays one step ahead of his victims with new and creative schemes. Fortunately, knowledge is the best defense and there are many ways to protect yourself.
Take control of your finances. Your chances of becoming an identity theft victim increase with the amount of debt you have. That's because someone with financial problems is much more likely to shop for loans and chase financing deals while unknowingly giving their information to an identity thief posing as a lender. If your finances are out of control, contact a credit counselor or try your employee assistance program and ask to speak with a financial counselor.
Know the billing cycles of your credit cards. If your credit card statement is more than a day or two late, call your credit card company and verify the last few charges. An identity thief can easily change your mailing address and divert your statement to keep you from noticing any fraudulent charges for awhile.
Close out approved but unused credit. If an identity thief gets a hold of your Social Security number, he can pull a credit report listing your account numbers, change your mailing address and spend to your credit limit. If the credit limit is low, your card will max out sooner.
Check your credit report for mistakes and phony accounts. A great place to get your free report is at www.annualcreditreport.com or call toll-free 1-877-322-8228. This one website will let you get your free annual credit report from each of the three credit reporting bureaus. The best way to keep tabs on your credit report year round is to rotate your requests from the credit bureaus every four months. For instance, go to www.annualcreditreport.com this month and request a credit report from Experian. In four months go back to the same website and request your credit report from Equifax and four months later, request your credit report from Trans Union. This way, each credit report is free and you can check your credit file throughout the year.
To keep track of when to request which credit report, try www.mytruston.com It's a great service that provides e-mail reminders to help you keep an eye on your credit.
Do not give out personal information to companies you don't know, especially over the phone. Another popular scam involves a caller claiming to be an employee of your bank or credit card company. The caller asks you to confirm your bank account or credit card account number, and that's all he needs to wreak havoc with your identity. Always be cautious and never give information until you call back on the phone number you have in your records.
Shred information with account numbers and social security numbers. Some identity thieves will stop at nothing to get your account numbers. A cross-cut shredder provides the most protection and should be used on any statement from a financial institution.
Don't leave mail in your mailbox over night. Identity thieves can remove the payee's name from your check and replace it with their own. They can also use credit card account numbers from statements they find in your mailbox and charge up your cards. To keep your mail safe, pick up your mail promptly, deliver your outgoing mail to the post office or get a locking mailbox.
Use credit cards rather than debit cards to make purchases on-line. If someone uses your credit card fraudulently, your maximum liability is $50, but if he uses your debit card instead, you may end up paying a lot more than $50. If you don't report the debit card stolen within the first 48 hours, you may have to pay the first $500 in fraudulent charges! You have much less liability if your credit rather than debit card is stolen, so when traveling or making on-line purchases it's better to use a credit card.
Safeguard your checks. When ordering checks, have them delivered directly to your bank and pick them up from there. This way they won't sit in your mailbox for someone else to find.
Another step is to have only your first initial and last name printed on the checks. If your full first name is not immediately available, an identity thief is less likely to sign the correct name if he steals your checks.
Opt out of pre-approved credit offers. Call 1-888-5optout to reduce the number of "You've been pre-approved" offers. There's also a way to reduce the junk mail you receive by visiting the Direct Mail Association's website at www.the-DMA.org.
In spite of taking all the right steps, you can still become an identity theft victim due to circumstances beyond your control. Database breaches and stolen laptops with confidential information are just a couple of examples. In the event that you are victimized, the effort to reclaim your identity can be overwhelming. A great resource is www.mytruston.com where you can get a personalized, step-by-step plan, complete with e-mail reminders, to straighten out the mess that identity thieves have left behind.
The more you know about identity theft, the more you can protect yourself and your credit. These safeguards will make it difficult for even a creative identity thief to heist your good name.
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