Identity Theft - How to Avoid Becoming an Identity Theft Victim

Although avoiding becoming an identity theft victim is not always possible, there are simple daily, monthly or yearly steps you can take to provide yourself with extra protection. Some of these steps may seem time consuming or unnecessary but if they prevent you from becoming an identity theft victim, then they are worth it!

One of the easiest ways identity thieves target victims is simply asking for personal information. This may be in the form of an email or phone call asking for account information to verify your account. Remember that creditors or banks will not call you asking for personal information, but will only solicit personal information when you call them. Why would a creditor or financial institution need to verify your information when they already have that information?

Although it may seem silly to be concerned with where you leave your mail, many petty identity thieves will just go about stealing mail from boxes to either receive information or for an opportunity to take money. This is true for both ingoing and outgoing mail. With this in mind it is important to pay attention to the time of month your bills usually arrive and if you haven’t received a bill, call the company to verify it has been sent out.

As well, if you plan on mailing bills that day, take an extra five minutes to take them to the local post office. At the very least, if you feel like you won’t have time that day to drop them at the post office, only leave them in the mailbox right before you leave. Placing them in the mailbox the night before is a perfect opportunity for identity thieves to take your mail and find out account information.

The same can be said about protecting your trash. Although there may be no way to prevent a thief from nosing through your trash as it sits on the curb, you can protect yourself by having already shredded valuable information. Basic shredders at a local office supply store should cost no more than $20 but could save you a great deal of headache. If you fear there might be information in the trash that was not shredded, don’t set the trash out until the morning when the garbage truck is scheduled to arrive.

Another important step that many homeowners forget is to have mail stopped or forwarded to a new address. If you are planning on being away on vacation, call the post office, visit their website or just stop by your local post office and file out a hold mail card. This will keep mail from sitting in your box for days and becoming a target for identity thieves.

Even before you decide to move, it is best to get a jump start on your change of address form at the post office. Often the change of address process can take anywhere from 5-10 days to complete and if you have already moved, bills could be sitting at your old address waiting for a thief to take this information.

One of the easiest ways you can go about avoiding becoming an identity theft victim is to simply continue checking your credit report. Current United States law requires that every consumer in the United States is required to receive on free credit report a year from one of the three major credit report companies. These companies include Equifax, Transunion and Experian.

A final way you can avoid identity theft is to never give out important password information for your bank accounts or online credit card accounts. These accounts are meant to protect you from identity theft and give them out to someone else defeats the purpose. As well, do not write these passwords or pins down but simply memorize them. If you feel like you have forgotten your password, the company can very easily verify who you are and set up a new password.

Remember that these methods do not always prevent identity theft, as thieves are coming up with new ways to steal personal information. However, if you remain vigilant in the protection of your personal information, you can greatly reduce the chances that you will become a victim.