10 Tips on Preventing Identity Theft

Identity theft is a serious threat with personal information being widely available online and on computers.

Cyber and other thieves are able to infringe on people's privacy and more by stealing information like name, birth date, address, credit card details, bank numbers and more.

Leading banks and financial institutions are all reporting fraud and accounts being compromised almost daily. Identity theft has become a major concern all over the world and steps are being taken a various levels to protect individuals as well as institutions. Identity thefts can happen from trash cans, social networking sites, from use of credit cards in shops and restaurants, from purchases online through insecure gateways and from questions answered innocently on the phone.

It is important to protect personal information and credit:

1. Never reveal personal data without verifying the need. Be careful when filling in memberships and other forms.

2. Be careful when entering bank and credit card information at banks, ATM machines, or online. Never do anything with a person peering over your shoulder. Be careful even with family or friends. Temptation breaks trust often.

3. Never just throw away letters, bank and credit card statements in the trash. Trash is the primary source for information. Shred all important documents and cut up and punch expired credit and bank cards.

4. On credit cards ensure that to be used a person needs not just the signature at the back of the card but photo ID too. When signing at the back of the credit card write "check photo ID." This will ensure protection.

5. When using the computer, CD, hard disk, or DVD make sure all sensitive data is erased before allowing others to use the things. Use products like shred XP to destroy things, otherwise most tech savvy individuals can recover files.

6. Be sharp and keep track of bank statements and expenditure. This way any new activities will not go unnoticed by you. Any unusual transactions need to be clipped and reported. Take immediate steps and prevent further losses in case the unfortunate does happen.

7. Pay your bills yourself and never leave them lying around. Use official US postal services instead of bill pay services.

8. Consider using secure online payment methods to settle bills. But never real account details, log in information or pins to any individual.

9. Never fill personal information in market surveys and telemarketing surveys. Read about how to protect yourself and follow the rules diligently.

10. Use state of art computer protection systems and prevent Trojans, spyware, and maleware, and phishing from accessing your files.

Follow the rules of protection and never reveal details like social security number, bank account details, credit cards details and such. Visit FTC's special website on identity theft http://www.ftc.gov/bcp/edu/microsites/idtheft/ . This has resources that help deter, detect, and defend against identity theft. Identity theft is serious business and it is important to learn how to protect oneself from dangers to self and family.