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Identity theft is when someone uses, without
permission, your personal information in order to
commit any frauds or crimes. Identity theft is a
felony that is becoming more and more common. That
is because some of us are not very careful with
personal information, making the job easier for
those trying to steel our identity. We should
always be careful with information like Social
Security number,
credit card
number, birth date, employment information,
driver's license number, etc., because if they
enter into the wrong hands the consequences can be
very serious. People that have experienced
identity theft
spend months trying to repair what others have
damaged, and in the meantime they cannot get a
loan or lose a job opportunity or, sometimes, they
can get arrested for something they didn't do.
If you
have the slightest suspicion that someone has
gained access to your personal information, acting
quickly is a must. First of all, you should get in
touch with the fraud department of the
credit bureau
where you have your accounts and request them to
initiate a credit alert on your accounts. This way
the creditors are obligated to contact you before
taking any actions regarding your accounts. At the
same time you should close the accounts you
believe that are corrupted. The second step would
be filing a police report and keeping a copy of it
so to have a proof of the crime.
It
is difficult dealing with an identity theft and
most of all is difficult to repair what others
have messed up for you. We cannot completely
prevent identity theft, but we can take some
simple precautions to minimize the risks. The most
important thing to do is to pay attention to your
bank statements: they should arrive in time and
you should check them very carefully. Your bank
statement should always arrive almost at the same
date every month. If you don't get your statement
one month this could mean that someone has changed
your billing address to prevent you from
discovering any unauthorized activity in your
account. Also, you must check every statement as
you get it and be sure that you have made all the
purchases recorded on it.
Another simple precaution for preventing identity
theft is to be careful with your personal papers.
Never carry all of them with you as it is not
safe. If you don't need your Social Security card,
birth certificate, passport, etc., leave them home
in a secured place and carry them with you only
when you need them for some reason. Also, you
should be careful with your mail as it often
contains personal information. Either put a lock
on your mailbox or have your mail delivered to a
post office box.
Nowadays, purchases made over the internet are
very common and some thieves have turned their
attention to this domain. The way to protect your
personal information when shopping online is to
never release them unless you are using a secure
browser. If you don't have a secured browser or
the website you're visiting is not secured, place
your order by phone or email. Also, for the
websites that require a password or a personal
identification number (PIN) don't use common names
or dates as anyone can guess them, but create your
own password or PIN made of numbers and letters.
These precautions do not really guaranty that
you'll not be an identity theft victim but they
will surely minimize the chances that you'll
become one. Being careful with your personal
information should not be a hustle but a routine.
This way you can be sure you'll not spend months
or years and lots of money to restore your credit
record and your name after thieves have messed it
up. Precaution is the name of the game.
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