Identity Theft and Internet Safety

1. Never give out identifying information such as your address, phone number, or other personal information to anyone who you don't trust.
2. Never give out your personal data to telephone solicitors. If you haven't made the phone call, chances are they want something more from you.
3. While traveling, have someone pick up your mail. Loads of personal information can be obtained from your bills or bank statements.
4. Check your financial statements regularly. Verify all your purchases on credit or debit cards.
5. Review your credit reports. Especially for new credit requests. If someone has your personal information, opening new credit card accounts is easy.
6. Maintain good financial records at home. When needing to dispute charges or transactions, having your records in order will expedite the process.
7. Destroy or shred all bills or statements instead of just throwing them in the garbage. Be sure to keep copies long enough to dispute errors.
8. Be careful about what information you give to whom.
9. If you stop receiving statements from places you'd normally get monthly records from, immediately call to verify your mailing address and report it.
10. Be careful when using mobile phones in public and giving out personal information. Nearby theives can overhear a lot of useful data.

Most people today are aware of the problem spam is causing in their inbox. But did you ever think that replying to one of these annoying emails may just cost you your identity? Criminals are more computer-savy than most would think. Loads of personal information can be obtained using a personal computer and an internet connection. Many scams are sent through email. Responding to these offers can compromise your IP address, usernames and even passwords. The best protection is to use a spam blocking software or just delete it before reading. With the advent of internet access to our financial records, many new email scams come from "your bank" or "your financial instituion". Recently, I began receiving emails that claimed my Wells Fargo account had been suspended. Since I don't have a Wells Fargo account that was an obvious clue, but to those who are less suspecting, they may login to their accounts, which really are links to forged internet sites that steal your account information, usernames, passwords and more. This scam is called "phishing" and the FTC is acting fast to combat it. The scheme has two victims, the company that has been impersonated and the consumer that bought into it. Large ecommerce sites like PayPal and AOL have been the target of such schemes in the past as well. Any one is vulnerable to this scheme and catching the perpatrators is difficult.

Common sense when giving out your personal information is your best line of defense. Don't discard your personal data in the garbage without shredding it first. Your garbage can be a wealth of information for a criminal. Other times, action is the best defense. If your purse or wallet has been stolen, reporting your credit cards missing promptly can avoid many problems. Even entering your pin number at the checkout when using your debit card is enough ammunition to give a criminal the information he needs. Be cautious in public, many criminals are just a shoulder away. Keep your credit reports up to date. Order a 3-BUREAU CREDIT REPORT from CreditReporting.com for $34.90. SEE what's in your report TODAY to insure 100% accuracy TOMORROW!