Preventing Identity Theft | Do Not Become A Victim
Would you ever think you could be a victim of Identity Theft? If you have a name and a social security number, you qualify. Identity Theft is one the fastest growing and most expensive crimes in America today. A large number of cases reported involve suspects who know their victims. Many are family members, friends, coworkers, neighbors, etc. Many more are between a suspect who does not know their victim. This is the hardest one to prove. Millions of people become victims each year. It is just a matter of time before it gets around to you.
With a little precaution taken, you can minimize your chances and sleep a little sounder at night knowing someone isn't out spending your future. There are many programs that will monitor your credit for a small fee. These agencies usually have some sort of guarantee to cover any gaps that a professional may be able to get around, but there are many things you can do on your own to help prevent your personal information from falling into the wrong hands.
Buy a shredder. Shred everything paper that leaves your house. Tearing your personal files into small pieces and putting it in the bottom of the trash WILL NOT WORK! Shred your junk mail. Anything with a name and address on it, shred it. Do you hate calling an institution that services a loan for you and the first thing they want is your social security number? You can ask that they use another way to identify you when calling in. Ask if you can put a password on your account instead of using your social. They may still ask for the last 4 digits, but 4 is better than 9. You may also ask if they can XX out all but the last 4 in their system. Most of these institutions have your information in a paper file so they will have it, but every customer service person working the phones won't.
Keep yourself safe against the "lazy" Identity Theft professionals of today. They won't need to break into your house or steal your wallet. They will only need enough information about you to gain access to your life and they can just sit behind the keyboard and morph into you and the nightmare begins.
Source: http://www.creditscoregain.com/2011/02/24/preventing-identity-theft/
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