How Identity Theft Happens | How to Reduce Your Risk | What To Do If You're a Victim, or Think You May Be a Victim
How to Reduce Your Risk for Identity Theft
- Order a copy of your credit report from each of the three major credit bureaus at least once a year to personally check for mistakes and fraud before they become a problem. Don't underestimate the importance of this step. One of the most common ways that consumers find out that they're victims of identity theft is when they try to make a major purchase, like a house or a car. The deal can be lost or delayed while the credit report mess is straightened out.
- Place strong passwords on your credit card, bank and phone accounts. Avoid using easily available information like your mother's maiden name, your birth date, the last four digits of your SSN or your phone number, or a series of consecutive numbers. Change passwords often.
- Secure personal information in your home and at work, especially if you have roommates, employ outside help, or are
having service work done in your home.
- Keep your purse or wallet in a safe place
- Carry only the identification information and the number of credit and debit cards that you actually need.
- Keep other credit cards and personal information in a safe place at home
- Don't carry your Social Security card with you; leave it in a secure place.
- Ask about information security procedures in your workplace. Find out who has access to your personal information and verify that records are kept in a secure location. Ask about the disposal procedures for those records as well.
- Don't give out personal information on the phone, through the mail or over the Internet: unless you've initiated the
contact or are sure you know with whom you're dealing.
- Be wary of promotional offers. Identity thieves may use phony offers to get you to give them your personal information.
- Before you share any personal information, confirm that you are dealing with a legitimate organization. You can check the organization's Web site as many companies post scam alerts when their name is used improperly, or you can call the company's customer service using the number listed on your account statement or in the telephone book.
- Before revealing any personally identifying information (for example, on an application), find out how it will be used and secured, and whether it will be shared with others. Ask if you have a choice about the use of your information and keeping it confidential. When opening new accounts, many businesses still ask for your mother's maiden name. Use a password instead.
- Give your SSN only when absolutely necessary. Ask to use other types of identifiers when possible. If your state uses your SSN as your driver's license number, ask to substitute another number.
- Guard your mail and trash from theft
- Place your outgoing mail in secure post office collection boxes or at your local post office, rather than in an unsecured mailbox. Promptly remove mail from your mailbox
- If you're planning to be away from home and can't pick up your mail, call the U.S. Postal Service at 1-800-275-8777, or go on-line (www.usps.com -- click on Receive Mail and Packages) to request a vacation hold. The Postal Service will hold your mail at your local post office until you are home to receive it or can pick it up.
- Pay attention to your billing cycles. Follow up with businesses and (especially) creditors if your bills don't arrive on time. A missing credit card bill could mean an identity thief has taken over your account and changed your billing address to cover his tracks.
- Tear or shred all charge receipts, copies of credit applications, insurance forms, physician statements, checks and bank statements, and credit offers you get in the mail.
- Cut up expired charge cards that you're discarding.
- Keep your computer and your stored personal information safe
- Update your virus protection software regularly
- Do not download files, especially application and "zip" files, sent to you by anyone, unless it's a file you're specifically expecting. Do not click on hyperlinks from people you don't know
- Use a firewall program, especially if you use a high-speed Internet connection like cable, DSL or T-1, which leaves your computer connected to the Internet 24 hours a day.
- Use a secure browser - software that encrypts or scrambles information you send over the Internet - to guard the security of your online transactions.
- Try not to store financial information on your laptop unless absolutely necessary. If you do, use a strong password - a combination of letters (upper and lowers case), numbers and symbols. Change the password often.
- Don't use an automatic log-in feature which saves your user name and password so you don't have to enter them each time you log-in or enter a site. And always log off when you're finished.
- Before you dispose of a computer, delete personal information. Use a "wipe" utility program to overwrite the entire hard drive. It makes the files unrecoverable.
- Look for Web site privacy policies. If you don't see a privacy policy, consider surfing elsewhere.
How Identity Theft Happens | How to Reduce Your Risk | What To Do If You're a Victim, or Think You May Be a Victim