Want to protect your identity like the law officials do? You've come to the right place! You'll find out just how these identity theft criminals plot their scams.
There were nearly 12 million events of identity theft in the United States in 2006, according to the U.S. Postal Service; which cost consumers about $6.3 billion! Consumers certainly raised their awareness after hearing this dreadful statistic; however, there are still consumers who are unaware of the distinctive techniques these identity thieves use. One renowned identity theft revealed, in an extensive interview, the 4 common mistakes she used to take your money!
Misconception # 1 All Identity Thieves Are Men
This is a very common myth that makes an identity thief's job so much simpler. One of the main issues is that the media portrays most identity thieves as men. In actuality, most criminals are fashionable and attractive females! You can steer clear from this deception, by closely monitoring your personal data with both women and men. According to researchers, both men and women let their guard down around women, more than they would with men. Remember, everyone is a potential identity thief. You don't have to become fearful that everyone you meet is a crook, but just be aware.
Misconception # 2 Trusting Your Friendly Store Clerk or Waiter
This is probably one of the most difficult mistakes to steer clear from, because most of the time we have to give personal information when making purchase or eating out. However, some of these people have two jobs. By day they may work at the local shopping mall, yet at night they take on another job. This other job is basically to provide credit card and account numbers to people. It's so easy to do, since the account information is in-hand. To avoid major issues, review your statements closely, and think about keeping track of your purchases with a journal.
If you monitor your statement closely as soon as you receive them, the less stressed you'll be, should a situation occur. Let's think about it...how quickly can a person, working at a shopping mall or restaurant, get access to hundreds of customers' personal data? You got it...very quickly! Our notorious identity thief revealed in her interview that most identity theft criminals work at these sorts of places for a few months, and once all the information is in-hand, they're on the next flight to the Bahamas!
Mistake #3: Immediately Tossing Out Unopened Junk Mail
If you have good credit, bad credit, or no credit at all, your information is out there. On average, you can get about 15-20 plus offers every month to open a new checking/savings account, or a credit card. The thing that makes this a big problem is that most of us are too lazy to closely monitor our documents. There are two types of people in this situation. There's the person who may not have a shredding machine, but still decides to just throw the mail with all sorts of personal information in the trash or just tear it in half. Then there's the person who actually owns a personal shredding machine, but doesn't "feel" like shredding each and every piece of information.
Remember, the only thing a criminal has to do to get his/her hands on your personal data is go through your trash, and you become a victim. Having a hard time believing? Think about this, what are you usually doing at 3 in the morning? Well, let's think about what the trustworthy identity thief is doing. He or she is in your trash rummaging through, taking information and going home to fit the pieces to the puzzle. Hint: Once you get done shredding the documents, add some water to the trash bag before sealing it and then throw it away. Your information will be chopped to little pieces and wet and smeared, which leaves it illegible.
Mistake #4: Mailing or Receiving items from Your Home
You're probably catching on by now. These identity thieves commit their crimes in so many different ways. They can steal your credit card payments that you mail out and other outgoing mail from either your private or home mailboxes. According to experts, some of these thieves will even try to file for a change of address in the victim's name, in order to have their mail with personal and financial data sent to them. Suggestion: try to drop all outgoing mail in a U.S. Post Office mailbox. Also, consider trying to open a P.O. Box. This may seem slightly inconvenient, but in order to really protect you, these are some of the necessary steps to take in order to stand up against identity theft.
One of the main issues is that there are various ways to become a victim; you really do need 24 hour a day protection. Don't be afraid to get help!
Listen, very few people can successfully protect themselves and their families without help. The major problem is that you have been trying to do it alone and it is just NOT effective. How much difference would it make in your life if you had a proven guide who has been in the trenches? There are many companies like Lifelock.com that provide identity theft solutions for people like you and me.
When you begin to research a service to proactively monitor and protect your credit, please be sure that they have been recommended by the top law enforcement officials, and of course that their service has proven to work in real life.
Identity Theft Prevention and Identity Theft Protection are crucial. Stop Identity Theft with LifeLock. Life Lock can guarantee identity theft never happens to you. To learn more about how to protect yourself from identity thieves, visit lifelock.com
There were nearly 12 million events of identity theft in the United States in 2006, according to the U.S. Postal Service; which cost consumers about $6.3 billion! Consumers certainly raised their awareness after hearing this dreadful statistic; however, there are still consumers who are unaware of the distinctive techniques these identity thieves use. One renowned identity theft revealed, in an extensive interview, the 4 common mistakes she used to take your money!
Misconception # 1 All Identity Thieves Are Men
This is a very common myth that makes an identity thief's job so much simpler. One of the main issues is that the media portrays most identity thieves as men. In actuality, most criminals are fashionable and attractive females! You can steer clear from this deception, by closely monitoring your personal data with both women and men. According to researchers, both men and women let their guard down around women, more than they would with men. Remember, everyone is a potential identity thief. You don't have to become fearful that everyone you meet is a crook, but just be aware.
Misconception # 2 Trusting Your Friendly Store Clerk or Waiter
This is probably one of the most difficult mistakes to steer clear from, because most of the time we have to give personal information when making purchase or eating out. However, some of these people have two jobs. By day they may work at the local shopping mall, yet at night they take on another job. This other job is basically to provide credit card and account numbers to people. It's so easy to do, since the account information is in-hand. To avoid major issues, review your statements closely, and think about keeping track of your purchases with a journal.
If you monitor your statement closely as soon as you receive them, the less stressed you'll be, should a situation occur. Let's think about it...how quickly can a person, working at a shopping mall or restaurant, get access to hundreds of customers' personal data? You got it...very quickly! Our notorious identity thief revealed in her interview that most identity theft criminals work at these sorts of places for a few months, and once all the information is in-hand, they're on the next flight to the Bahamas!
Mistake #3: Immediately Tossing Out Unopened Junk Mail
If you have good credit, bad credit, or no credit at all, your information is out there. On average, you can get about 15-20 plus offers every month to open a new checking/savings account, or a credit card. The thing that makes this a big problem is that most of us are too lazy to closely monitor our documents. There are two types of people in this situation. There's the person who may not have a shredding machine, but still decides to just throw the mail with all sorts of personal information in the trash or just tear it in half. Then there's the person who actually owns a personal shredding machine, but doesn't "feel" like shredding each and every piece of information.
Remember, the only thing a criminal has to do to get his/her hands on your personal data is go through your trash, and you become a victim. Having a hard time believing? Think about this, what are you usually doing at 3 in the morning? Well, let's think about what the trustworthy identity thief is doing. He or she is in your trash rummaging through, taking information and going home to fit the pieces to the puzzle. Hint: Once you get done shredding the documents, add some water to the trash bag before sealing it and then throw it away. Your information will be chopped to little pieces and wet and smeared, which leaves it illegible.
Mistake #4: Mailing or Receiving items from Your Home
You're probably catching on by now. These identity thieves commit their crimes in so many different ways. They can steal your credit card payments that you mail out and other outgoing mail from either your private or home mailboxes. According to experts, some of these thieves will even try to file for a change of address in the victim's name, in order to have their mail with personal and financial data sent to them. Suggestion: try to drop all outgoing mail in a U.S. Post Office mailbox. Also, consider trying to open a P.O. Box. This may seem slightly inconvenient, but in order to really protect you, these are some of the necessary steps to take in order to stand up against identity theft.
One of the main issues is that there are various ways to become a victim; you really do need 24 hour a day protection. Don't be afraid to get help!
Listen, very few people can successfully protect themselves and their families without help. The major problem is that you have been trying to do it alone and it is just NOT effective. How much difference would it make in your life if you had a proven guide who has been in the trenches? There are many companies like Lifelock.com that provide identity theft solutions for people like you and me.
When you begin to research a service to proactively monitor and protect your credit, please be sure that they have been recommended by the top law enforcement officials, and of course that their service has proven to work in real life.
Identity Theft Prevention and Identity Theft Protection are crucial. Stop Identity Theft with LifeLock. Life Lock can guarantee identity theft never happens to you. To learn more about how to protect yourself from identity thieves, visit lifelock.com
About the Author:
Author Linda Seamore is a consumer advocate serious aboutteaching people how to protect their identity. After months of exhausting study, she stumbled upon www.Lifelock.com the industry leader in ID theft protection. Lifelock is a proactive identity theft protection agency, specializing in prevention of identity theft rather than just the reporting of it.
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