Okay, so having your identity stolen can be a pretty serious situation that can impact several different areas of your personal and financial life.
Most identity thieves will try to get money out of a bank account or open up a new charge account and charge purchases to it.
Some thieves will try to file an early tax return in your name and then collect on any tax refund you may have coming.
Your best defense is to be cautious and use some common sense.
Here are some tips to help prevent ID theft from happening to you.
1. Carefully check all of your financial statements.
2. Regularly get your credit report and go through it.
3. Don’t use weak passwords and don’t use the same ones at too many different websites.
4. Keep your important papers in a safe and secure spot.
5. Read all your mail that deals with your finances.
6. Be careful what you do and what sites you visit on the Internet.
7. Do not keep credit cards or store charge cards that you don’t use in your wallet.
8. Do not keep your social security card in your wallet.
9. Do not tell people your social security number if you don’t think they really need to know it.
10. Buy a paper shredder and use it on your financial documents before you get rid of them.
11. If you get a new credit card in the mail - activate it quickly.
12. Keep your debit card PIN a secret. And certainly do not write it on your card.
13. Keep your basic contact details at every financial institution up to date.
14. Put a temporary freeze on your credit report so no one can open new accounts under your name.
15. Have an additional secure email account just for your financial accounts.
16. When you are working on sensitive internet activities, do not do it on public Wi-Fi.
17. Make sure you have virus protection software installed and updated on your computer.
18. Your laptop has a bunch of important details on it, protect it as best you can.
19. Keep an eye on your smartphone and keep all software updated.
20. Don’t use a public computer for anything sensitive or for logging into any personal account.
21. Check out your earnings statement at the Social Security Administration once a year.
22. Be careful when clicking on a link in an email, even if you think that email is from a friend.
23. Is a financial institution calling you? Make sure they are who they say they are and don’t give details if you are unsure about them.
24. You can opt out of receiving all of those pre-screened credit card offers that come in the mail.
25. When you order new checks, try to pick them up at the bank instead of sending them to your house.
26. Have fun on social media, but don’t put out too many personal details.
27. Pay attention to where you put your outgoing mail to prevent it from being stolen.
28. Be cautious when recycling a computer or smartphone. Be sure to get rid of any personal details on them first.
29. Don’t give out a lot of details to someone who says they work for a marketing research firm.
We have more details about each of these tips at our website's main prevention page at http://www.IdentityTheftHelp.com/Prevention plus you can also read more at IdentityTheft.gov.
Most identity thieves will try to get money out of a bank account or open up a new charge account and charge purchases to it.
Some thieves will try to file an early tax return in your name and then collect on any tax refund you may have coming.
Your best defense is to be cautious and use some common sense.
Here are some tips to help prevent ID theft from happening to you.
1. Carefully check all of your financial statements.
2. Regularly get your credit report and go through it.
3. Don’t use weak passwords and don’t use the same ones at too many different websites.
4. Keep your important papers in a safe and secure spot.
5. Read all your mail that deals with your finances.
6. Be careful what you do and what sites you visit on the Internet.
7. Do not keep credit cards or store charge cards that you don’t use in your wallet.
8. Do not keep your social security card in your wallet.
9. Do not tell people your social security number if you don’t think they really need to know it.
10. Buy a paper shredder and use it on your financial documents before you get rid of them.
11. If you get a new credit card in the mail - activate it quickly.
12. Keep your debit card PIN a secret. And certainly do not write it on your card.
13. Keep your basic contact details at every financial institution up to date.
14. Put a temporary freeze on your credit report so no one can open new accounts under your name.
15. Have an additional secure email account just for your financial accounts.
16. When you are working on sensitive internet activities, do not do it on public Wi-Fi.
17. Make sure you have virus protection software installed and updated on your computer.
18. Your laptop has a bunch of important details on it, protect it as best you can.
19. Keep an eye on your smartphone and keep all software updated.
20. Don’t use a public computer for anything sensitive or for logging into any personal account.
21. Check out your earnings statement at the Social Security Administration once a year.
22. Be careful when clicking on a link in an email, even if you think that email is from a friend.
23. Is a financial institution calling you? Make sure they are who they say they are and don’t give details if you are unsure about them.
24. You can opt out of receiving all of those pre-screened credit card offers that come in the mail.
25. When you order new checks, try to pick them up at the bank instead of sending them to your house.
26. Have fun on social media, but don’t put out too many personal details.
27. Pay attention to where you put your outgoing mail to prevent it from being stolen.
28. Be cautious when recycling a computer or smartphone. Be sure to get rid of any personal details on them first.
29. Don’t give out a lot of details to someone who says they work for a marketing research firm.
We have more details about each of these tips at our website's main prevention page at http://www.IdentityTheftHelp.com/Prevention plus you can also read more at IdentityTheft.gov.