Five ways to protect yourself from identity theft

     There are a number of ways for you to become a victim of identity theft, sometimes it's accidental such as you lose your wallet or the theft of your pocketbook and sometimes it's the  devious route through fictitious emails requesting personal information over the phone.  And then there is the much-publicized hacking of  major corporations billing systems to get your credit card information and other personal information. Identity thieves are getting more sophisticated in their attempts at stealing our identities.

     The information I am providing you today comes from the Identity Theft Resource Center website. I have spoken of them in previous blogs and their website is one of most comprehensive sites on identity theft that I have read.

             http://www.idtheftcenter.org/ 


                                  
        Protect your personal information

Social security number, health insurance policy number, and other pieces of key data are unique to you. Before you give them to anyone whether you know them or not verify the reasons for needing the information.

                  Don't toss it in the mail

Do not use your curbside mailbox for mail that contains sensitive personal information (checks, health insurance statements or tax documents) drop them off at your local post office.

               Don't make it easy to steal from you

     Make sure to review your financial statements thoroughly each month or if you can, set them up online so you can  review them a minimum of once a week. Shred everything, if possible sign up for paperless billing if that service is offered to you.

           A password is only as good as you make it

     When developing a password you should avoid using the obvious such as birthdays,street addresses, names of family members or the infamous 1234 or password. There should be a minimum of eight characters using uppercase, lowercase, numbers or symbols. You should change your passwords frequently and try not to use the same password on different accounts.

      Because they ask, doesn't mean you have to tell   them.

     Finally don't fall for the oldest trick in the book: the direct question if you get an email or you are speaking with someone on the phone and they ask you directly what is your social security number don't give it to them.  It doesn't matter if it's a company you

recognize and you have done business with them before or the  person on the other end of the line is a complete stranger. Remember your SSN is not an identification number and should not be used to verify your account information and anyone who presses you for that information is probably not someone you should give it to. 

     I hope you find this to be informative and beneficial. I encourage feedback and would like to have this blog become more interactive. 

                    Richard Bentley
                    richardbentley.us


                 Other websites of interest
         http://seniorscamspodcast.com/index.html                http://infocard.cc/101_Marketing_Podcasts.html