Identity Theft occurs when someone wrongfully uses your personal identification to obtain credit, loans, services, even rentals and mortgages in your name. They may even commit crimes while impersonating you!

Identity Theft is a frightening and overwhelming experience if it does happen to you. You may not know it is happening for months or years! It is my desire to help other people prevent the nightmare I have had to go through myself.

How to protect yourself from Identity Theft?

• You need to know who the Identity Thieves typically are
• You need to know how Identity Thieves get your personal information
• You need to know steps you can take to protect yourself from Identity Theft.

Who are the Identity Thieves? An Identity Thief can be literally anyone, but all too frequently he/she is someone you know. Better than half of all Identity Thefts are committed by someone close to you, such as:

• An employee
• A neighbor
• A friend
• A roommate
• A sibling
• A child
• Even a parent

The balance of Identity Thefts are committed by people you may have never met.

How do Identity Thieves get your information?

Whether the thief is someone you know or not, the thing that Identity Thieves have in common is that they have acquired enough of your personal information to act in your stead. This information can be acquired from:

• Utility bills,
• Bank and credit card statements,
• Insurance records,
• Legal documents,
• Drivers licenses, Etc.

The Identity Thief can collect these documents from your trash, your mail, and any place you leave such documents out in public view. Such information can also be purchased from someone who has collected the necessary information for the purpose of sale to others.

What steps can you take to protect yourself?

• One of the most important steps that you can take to protect yourself from Identity Theft is to shred all of your personal papers. Shredding documents, such as utility bills, medical bills, credit card statements, etc will prevent Identity Thieves from gaining access to your account numbers or even social security numbers. If they can’t gain access to this information, they cannot steal your identity. You should also consider shredding your junk mail because that can contain personal information that Identity Thieves can use against you.
• Secure your computer. Your computer may contain all the needed information for a successful theft, if you do a lot of work or shopping on the computer. You will need to make sure that your computer has a current version of anti-virus software and that it is updated regularly (preferably daily). A good firewall will also prevent unauthorized access to your computer, across the Internet, and to the information it contains.
• Be cautious about the actions of those around you. It has been said that, "Locks do not keep out criminals, but may prevent an honest man from becoming a criminal." With that thought in mind, never expose those around you to information they do not have a necessity to know. Don’t tempt them by leaving information where it is readily accessible without your knowledge.
• Don’t be taken in by "phishing" scams. These are emails which come to you unsolicited and which invite you to provide information that can permit access to your records. Some of these schemes involve "too good to be true" promises of wealth. NEVER respond to these offers. Other scams may appear to be from a bank or credit card company indicating that your records need to be corrected. NEVER provide such data over the Internet. DO NOT< click on any link in the email message. If the contact is a legitimate message from your bank or other financial firm, they will instruct you to go to their normal website for access to any messages or warnings.
• Monitor your bank and credit card statements, to detect any transactions which you did not authorize. These transactions are not necessarily large amounts of money and might otherwise be ignored. No matter how much money is involved, if you do not recognize the transaction, contact your bank or credit card issuer immediately and protest the entry. It’s much better to be embarrassed because of a transaction you forgot making rather than to be ripped off by an Identity Thief.
• Monitor your credit records maintained by the three big credit bureaus. You are entitled to a free copy of your credit record from each of these three bureaus once a year. By spacing your request at four month intervals, you can obtain one free copy from each of these bureaus. Be sure to use the Federal Government’s authorized website to obtain these reports.
• Use Credit Alerts and Credit Freezes. These are tools that can be helpful, but do require care in use. Credit Alerts put the credit bureaus on notice that you must be contacted whenever credit is requested. Credit Freezes stop all credit authorization until the freeze is lifted by you.
• Consider the services of an Identity Protection Service. The cost is typically $10 to $15 per month and the different companies provide different degrees of service, from credit monitoring to legal advice and protection.

Anyone can become an Identity Theft victim; however, every step you take to defend yourself against theft makes it that much more difficult for even a dedicated thief to steal your identity.