Identity theft - the assumption of our identity - is one
of the least understood and most frightening problems. It is a
complicated issue and let me tell you how it works: A scamster
manages to get my name, address, social security number and
credit card or other information. Assuming my identity, the
person runs up huge bills and skips without paying, leaving me
with a ruined credit and creditors baying for my blood.
Our wallet contains so much information about ourselves, which
we normally do not realize. A thief can make use of the
information and pretend to be us.
Reducing Exposure to Identity Theft
* We cannot prevent identity theft with a 100% certainty, but we
can certainly try to reduce our exposure to it.
* We must carry only the information we need to carry out our
daily dealings. We should not carry all our credit cards in our
wallet. We must avoid putting our Social Security number on our
checks.
* Stolen mail is one of the easiest ways to get personal
statistics. Do not leave your mailbox full. If out of town,
arrange to have your mail picked up by friends or family
members, or arrange to leave it at the post office.
* Do we get alert if our credit card bill is late? I always call
up my credit card issuer to ask why. Identity thieves can
arrange to change my billing address and run up huge bills
before I can realize.
* Employers, merchants, proprietors, etc may have legitimate
reasons to ask for my personal information. I always find out
why they want the information and provide only that which is
required for that particular transaction.
* One of the oldest frauds is being asked to update out of date
credit card information, over phone. I never give out any
information to strangers. You too should not.
In the next article, let us learn how to avoid becoming a
victim of identity
theft.
Jon Sterling tries to
help you overcome
Personal Financial
problems through informative articles to help you reach your
personal financial goals.
About the author:
Jon publishes articles and ebooks to help individuals with their
personal finance needs and
goals.
