Protect yourself against Identity theft

Everytime I checked our account online, I see to it that every transaction there was made by us. Then we asked our bank to send us an email if there is any suspicious transaction occured in our account because now a days, many people were trapped by this Identity theft.

What is Identity Theft? It is considered a crime because when an imposters takes your personal date usually your name, Social Security Number, driver's license, address and/or birth date and uses it for their own personal gain. This persons may apply for telephone service, credit cards, loans, buy merchandise, lease cars or apartments and even use your identity to gain employment working as you. They might even try to fool police into believing they are you when being arrested or being given a citation. Identity theft is a dual crime. Both the person whose identity has been used and the credit grantors are victims. Identity theft is punishable under state and federal law. There are many ways that thieves can steal you identifying information. It can be as high-tech computer hacking or as low-tech as digging through your trash. It can be an unknown store clerk or someone you know and trust. They all possess the same motive which is to use your name and credit to purchase goods and services without paying the price. However, there is a price to pay for the victim. It can take hours, weeks or even years to undo the damage caused to your credit and good name, not to mention the financial cost to clean your name.

There are some things that you can prevent theft stole your identity.

1. View your credit report because it is the best way to find out if someone is using your information without your knowledge.

2. Dont carry your SSN with you, unless necessary. Resist giving your SSN to anyone unless absolutely necessary. Never print your SSN or driver's license number on checks.

3. There are only three main reason to provide your SSN -for employment, taxes and credit.

4. Cancell unnecessary credit cards. Carry as few credit cards as possible in your wallet. Keep confidential information in a locked area in your home. Add passwords to all yur credit card and bank accounts.

4. Use a locked mailbox to send and receive mail.

5. Carefully destroy any papers you throw out that contain your SSN, bank information, old credt cards, pre-approved credit cards offer or documents with coding that may have identifying information. Use shredder to destroy them.

6.Make sure your computer has a strong firewall and keep antivirus and anti-spyware programs up to date. As for antivirus protection, McAfee and Norton anti-virus are popular choices. If you're looking for cut costs, consumer reports says Alwil Avast offers the best free virus protection available.

7.Avoid accessing financial information in public like checking your bank balance when working from a coffee shops that offers wireless access.

8. Update your browser on a regular basis.

9.Never open an attachement or click on a link sent to you by an unknown party. Attachements can contain virusses and links can lead unsuspecting users to dummy sites.

10. Before donating or giving your old computer be sure to completely delete all your data at computer's hard drive.

11. Be aware of scams . Be suspicious of telephone solicitors. Never provide the information unless you have initiated the call.

12. Dont leave your credit card to any waiter, clerk or servers.

If ever you become an identity theft victim:

1. Contact the credit card reporting agencies and report suspicious transactions that don not belong to you.

2. Contact the police in your area and report the crime. Your police report will be a necessary document in order to clean the problem.

3. Contact the credit issuers, government agencies and any other entity that has reported incorrect information about you.
4. Call the Federal Trade Commissions and tell them about the crime.

For more information about, check Identity Theft. It is a national non-profit program dedicated to ID theft victim assistance and public awareness.