You can be a victim when your phone rings and the person demands you to pay for overdue bills, you open your mails and be bombarded with unfamiliar letters of different companies. When you went for grocery shopping, the cashier is refusing checks because of the history of bounced checks. But you know that you paid your bills on time. This is the scenario you will encounter when someone else used your identity.
According to surveys, there is an estimated 8 million victims of identity theft. So what are the thieves after? They are looking for your Social Security number, credit card numbers, driver’s license or even your birth date. Thief can either use your credit account information or use other identifying information but uses your name. The victims of fraud are shouldering the expenses or part of the expenses made by the thief.
Thieves would go over the trash and see for some loan applications or any documents that contain sensitive data. They can also steal your new mails to see your new obtained credit cards, investment reports, benefit documents or insurance statements. Another technique is these thieves send you legitimate-looking emails that look like they came from the bank. It asks you to go to that site to confirm your account information. Always ensure that the website you visit is a legitimate one.
In order to reduce the risk of identity theft, you must practice safety. Bring only two credit cards or ATM in your wallet. If you are eating in restaurants pay attention to the employees who swipe your card. If you are shopping online, avoid using your debit card. Credit cards are better to use. Keep a copy of all your account numbers and their respective expiration dates in a safe place. You can make use of these in case you think your accounts are used by other people or if it is stolen.
Author and entrepreneur Bernz Jayma P. is the owner of an identity theft blog, Learn up -to-date information on how you can stop and prevent identity theft by visiting http://www.IdentityTheftProtection.org.
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