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Will You Add? - Identity Theft - Are YOU At Risk?
Breaking news may feature the Enron debacle, WorldCom activities, or accounting problems but we live our everyday business life making ethical choices that affect our employment and businesses. Consider the ethical choices made in these situations:-A restaurateur hired a firm, used the firm’s ideas, benefited from them and refused to pay for the services rendered.-A partner used intellectual property created by another partner for his own personal benefit.-An independent consultant who was hired to sell a particular firm’s services and products used that firm’s database of customers and prospects to sell his own speaking services.-An employee took a new job with a prospect’s firm and continued on working both jobs until the first employer found out and fired her.-A business person volunteered to perform specific services for a nonprofit organization and failed to perform those services, did not make other arrangements to perform the services, or even acknowledge that the commitment had been made.-An employee used hours of regular, paid, in-office time to research how to start her own new business.While these are not on the newsworthy scale of an Enron, they are on a scale that affected each business involved, some even resulting in disastrous outcomes.We
A recent article in the November 2006 issues of Reader's Digest reported that “fraud is estimated to account for as much as ten percent of all health care costs … including medical identity theft.” “An insurance card is like a Visa card with a $1 million spending limit,” says Byron Hollis, national anti-fraud director of the Blue Cross and Blue Shield Association. The most frightening part of this article is the fact that organized crime rings are realizing how lucrative identity theft is and are adding a new dimension to the problem.
Driver's License Identity Theft
Our driver's license is the standard and most often used form of identification in United States. ID thieves are professionals at creating fake driver's licenses that are virtually impossible to detect. Having this form of picture ID opens the door to numerous other types of ID theft.
On October 28, 2006 in California, a worker at the Santa Ana DMV was arrested for her alleged role in an ID theft scheme that used applicant information to create fraudulent licenses. The indictment alleged that she used her position to sell fraudulent drivers licenses to co-schemers who paid between $1,500 to $5,000 for each fraudulent license. She allegedly obtained the identifications of victims from the DMV database and changed their address and identifiers to match the fraudulent purchaser who then had a new DMV photo taken.
What can You do to Protect Yourself?
The good news is there are many things you can do to protect yourself, but you must be proactive. This is a crime you cannot afford to wait to become of a victim of.
1. Order the Feder
In a previous life I was a Navy Pilot. Great life, great people to be around. People who were all doing great things around the world flying off great big aircraft carriers. In an environment that complex and dangerous, you need to have teams of people working as one, or bad things begin to happen in large quantities.The people onboard aircraft carriers are divided into two groups, those that make the ship float and those that make the planes fly. Those that make the ship float are known as "ship's company", and those that make the planes fly are with "the airwing". During one tour of duty, I was assigned to the "airwing staff". The airwing staff coordinated the activities of the ten aircraft squadrons deployed aboard the aircraft carrier. It was while working for our Airwing Commander, Captain Jerry Norris, that I would unknowingly learn what has to become my most valued rule as an entrepreneur.Captain Norris was quite the character. A fighter pilot with all the fixings! Tall, handsome, and with enough confident charisma to handle any situation, be that in the air, on land, or at sea. But the truth of it is, none of the eight officers on the staff considered Captain Norris to be the sharpest knife in the drawer.It wasn't that things were not going well for he or the airwing. It just seemed strange that so simple and rela
In 2005, 9.3 million Americans were victims of identity theft according to the Javelin Better Business Bureau survey. 68.2 percent of the cases involved thieves who obtained personal information off-line vs. only 11.6% obtained online. ID theft through lost or stolen identification, misappropriation by family and friends, and theft of paper mail are among the most common ways thieves gain access to your information.
Most people do not have a clue how to protect themselves.
For a moment, let's just examine what could happen in your life if you are targeted for this crime:
· Victims now spend an average of 600 hours recovering from identity theft over a period of years. This equals nearly $16,000 in lost potential or realized income. Typical out-of-pocket expenses are $1,500 on average.
· Even after a thief is stopped from using your information, sometimes up to as much as 10 years, victims still struggle with the impact of identity theft. That includes increased insurance or credit card fees, inability to find a job, higher interest rates, as well as continuing to battle collection agencies that refuse to clear records despite substantiating evidence of the crime. How stressful do you think this situation would be?
· The emotional impact on victims is likened to a violation similar to what victims of violent crime describe including rape, violent assault and battering. People feel dirty, ashamed, embarrassed and often are afraid to ask for help. Many have reported a split with a spouse of significant other as well as being unsupported by family members.
Most victims report a lack of responsiveness from those entities they turned to for help including police, collection agencies, credit issuers, utility companies and financial institutions. The average arrest rate for identity theft based on reported cases is 5%. The message here is crystal clear - we have to fight identity theft ourselves!
Exactly what are the different types of identity theft and how do identity thieves get access to your personal information?
Financial Identity Theft
This is the kind of identity theft most people think of first. Thieves hack into your computer at home or at the office and steal personal information. It accounts for about 28% of all identity theft happening today.
For example, thieves will:
· use your line of credit to make purchases
· use your credit cards to make purchase
· open up a mortgage using your name and social security number
· create a loan using your name and social security number
· file bankruptcy under your name
· open phone or utility accounts under your name
· attempt checking and/or savings fraud (accessing your accounts)
· attempt to use existing accounts to make purchases
Under the Fair Credit Billing Act, your liability in the case of unauthorized credit use is limited to $50 per card. However, in order to take advantage of this protection, you must file a dispute letter within 60 days after the first bill containing the error was mailed to you. So what happens if the thief changes your address and you don't receive your bill? Guess what, you are held financially liable. In addition, the Electronic Fund Transfer Act has the same 60 day notification provision or your liability is unlimited. Not fair, but it's the reality.
Some credit card companies promote zero liability for these kinds of fraudulent transactions. However the reality is that there are exclusions including cards used by business purposes, ATM transactions, and certain PIN-based transitions, all transactions processed outside the card issuer's network, and cases where the card holder gave permission for someone else to use their card. You have to read your cardholder agreement carefully to find out the exact details.
Financial Identity Theft has significant impact on a person's life including: financial losses, inaccurate credit reports that can mean being denied a job, difficulty getting new lines of credit, trouble opening new accounts as well as higher costs for loans and insurance. The toll of this kind of financial loss can be significant as can be witnessed in a recent lawsuit filed by a plaintiff against Home Depot, Case #02CC13327 in Orange County Superior Court, where a judge awarded the plaintiff $1 million in damages for identity theft.
Criminal Identity Theft
This is the second most common type of identity theft and most people aren't even aware of it.
In this case, a criminal uses your information during encounters with the police. For example, a thief who has your identifying information gets arrested for a crime and gives them your name and social security number. One day you are driving along and get stopped for a traffic infraction. The cop runs your name through their database and finds out you just committed a bank robbery in another state. Suddenly you are being hauled off to jail for something you didn't even do!
Never mind how stressful and embarrassing this mistake could be, it can also lead to an erroneous criminal record, outstanding arrest warrants, and possible consequences such as being fired from your job for not disclosing a conviction and even get you thrown in jail. What if this happens on a Friday night and they toss you the local jail overnight? Do you have someone you can call that could bail you out? Can you afford this kind of mistake happen in your life?
The results of this kind of criminal identity theft could include a negative impact on future employment, loss of security clearance, lost jobs and higher insurance premiums. It is the most difficult type of ID theft to clear up and in some cases, almost impossible. Some victims have been reduced to carrying court documentation with them at all times to prove who they really are and not the actual criminal.
Social Security Identity Theft
If someone uses your social security number to get a job and they have a continuous work record, guess who gets to pay the tax bill? The answer is you. There are cases where someone's social security number was used a total of 37 times by different people. In the employment screening business, we see this happen every day.
Medical Identity Theft
This kind of ID theft involves someone using your health insurance for medical and/or hospital care. The result is a mixed up medical record that could result in potentially deadly consequences. For example, what would happen if someone used your identification and health insurance number and got an HIV test that proved positive? Now all of a sudden, that record is attached to your medical records and every time you see a healthcare person, they think you have aids. In addition, this can seriously impact your ability to get insurance and it can result in significantly higher insurance premiums.
A recent article in the November 2006 issues of Reader's Digest reported that “fraud is estimated to account for as much as ten percent of all health care costs … including medical identity theft.” “An insurance card is like a Visa card with a $1 million spending limit,” says Byron Hollis, national anti-fraud director of the Blue Cross and Blue Shield Association. The most frightening part of this article is the fact that organized crime rings are realizing how lucrative identity theft is and are adding a new dimension to the problem.
Driver's License Identity Theft
Our driver's license is the standard and most often used form of identification in United States. ID thieves are professionals at creating fake driver's licenses that are virtually impossible to detect. Having this form of picture ID opens the door to numerous other types of ID theft.
On October 28, 2006 in California, a worker at the Santa Ana DMV was arrested for her alleged role in an ID theft scheme that used applicant information to create fraudulent licenses. The indictment alleged that she used her position to sell fraudulent drivers licenses to co-schemers who paid between $1,500 to $5,000 for each fraudulent license. She allegedly obtained the identifications of victims from the DMV database and changed their address and identifiers to match the fraudulent purchaser who then had a new DMV photo taken.
What can You do to Protect Yourself?
The good news is there are many things you can do to protect yourself, but you must be proactive. This is a crime you cannot afford to wait to become of a victim of.
1. Order the Federa
Since the advent of the Internet, every entrepreneur seems too eager to put his or her business online. This is because they know that there will be more chances of earning more money once they have placed their business in the Internet.In fact, some surveys show that 60% of the Americans are willing to buy items in the Internet. For this reason, many businesses were enticed to start online transactions and marketing.Hence, most businesses start making their web sites. The problem is that once they have finished designing their sites, how in the world will they ever get it online?The solution? Web hosting! With all the remarkable designs that a business owner may have established will be useless if he or she could not get it working online. Therefore, web hosting is the solution.Basically, web hosting is one type of service in the Net that allots spaces for customers who wish to display or make their respective web sites achieve “web presence” in the World Wide Web. It is the responsibility of the web host provider to display webs sites to be connected to the Internet 24 hours a day, 7 days a week.What most people do not know is that whenever they are trying to get in touch with a web site, they are actually connecting to the web server and not the web si
Most victims report a lack of responsiveness from those entities they turned to for help including police, collection agencies, credit issuers, utility companies and financial institutions. The average arrest rate for identity theft based on reported cases is 5%. The message here is crystal clear - we have to fight identity theft ourselves!
Exactly what are the different types of identity theft and how do identity thieves get access to your personal information?
Financial Identity Theft
This is the kind of identity theft most people think of first. Thieves hack into your computer at home or at the office and steal personal information. It accounts for about 28% of all identity theft happening today.
For example, thieves will:
· use your line of credit to make purchases
· use your credit cards to make purchase
· open up a mortgage using your name and social security number
· create a loan using your name and social security number
· file bankruptcy under your name
· open phone or utility accounts under your name
· attempt checking and/or savings fraud (accessing your accounts)
· attempt to use existing accounts to make purchases
Under the Fair Credit Billing Act, your liability in the case of unauthorized credit use is limited to $50 per card. However, in order to take advantage of this protection, you must file a dispute letter within 60 days after the first bill containing the error was mailed to you. So what happens if the thief changes your address and you don't receive your bill? Guess what, you are held financially liable. In addition, the Electronic Fund Transfer Act has the same 60 day notification provision or your liability is unlimited. Not fair, but it's the reality.
Some credit card companies promote zero liability for these kinds of fraudulent transactions. However the reality is that there are exclusions including cards used by business purposes, ATM transactions, and certain PIN-based transitions, all transactions processed outside the card issuer's network, and cases where the card holder gave permission for someone else to use their card. You have to read your cardholder agreement carefully to find out the exact details.
Financial Identity Theft has significant impact on a person's life including: financial losses, inaccurate credit reports that can mean being denied a job, difficulty getting new lines of credit, trouble opening new accounts as well as higher costs for loans and insurance. The toll of this kind of financial loss can be significant as can be witnessed in a recent lawsuit filed by a plaintiff against Home Depot, Case #02CC13327 in Orange County Superior Court, where a judge awarded the plaintiff $1 million in damages for identity theft.
Criminal Identity Theft
This is the second most common type of identity theft and most people aren't even aware of it.
In this case, a criminal uses your information during encounters with the police. For example, a thief who has your identifying information gets arrested for a crime and gives them your name and social security number. One day you are driving along and get stopped for a traffic infraction. The cop runs your name through their database and finds out you just committed a bank robbery in another state. Suddenly you are being hauled off to jail for something you didn't even do!
Never mind how stressful and embarrassing this mistake could be, it can also lead to an erroneous criminal record, outstanding arrest warrants, and possible consequences such as being fired from your job for not disclosing a conviction and even get you thrown in jail. What if this happens on a Friday night and they toss you the local jail overnight? Do you have someone you can call that could bail you out? Can you afford this kind of mistake happen in your life?
The results of this kind of criminal identity theft could include a negative impact on future employment, loss of security clearance, lost jobs and higher insurance premiums. It is the most difficult type of ID theft to clear up and in some cases, almost impossible. Some victims have been reduced to carrying court documentation with them at all times to prove who they really are and not the actual criminal.
Social Security Identity Theft
If someone uses your social security number to get a job and they have a continuous work record, guess who gets to pay the tax bill? The answer is you. There are cases where someone's social security number was used a total of 37 times by different people. In the employment screening business, we see this happen every day.
Medical Identity Theft
This kind of ID theft involves someone using your health insurance for medical and/or hospital care. The result is a mixed up medical record that could result in potentially deadly consequences. For example, what would happen if someone used your identification and health insurance number and got an HIV test that proved positive? Now all of a sudden, that record is attached to your medical records and every time you see a healthcare person, they think you have aids. In addition, this can seriously impact your ability to get insurance and it can result in significantly higher insurance premiums.
A recent article in the November 2006 issues of Reader's Digest reported that “fraud is estimated to account for as much as ten percent of all health care costs … including medical identity theft.” “An insurance card is like a Visa card with a $1 million spending limit,” says Byron Hollis, national anti-fraud director of the Blue Cross and Blue Shield Association. The most frightening part of this article is the fact that organized crime rings are realizing how lucrative identity theft is and are adding a new dimension to the problem.
Driver's License Identity Theft
Our driver's license is the standard and most often used form of identification in United States. ID thieves are professionals at creating fake driver's licenses that are virtually impossible to detect. Having this form of picture ID opens the door to numerous other types of ID theft.
On October 28, 2006 in California, a worker at the Santa Ana DMV was arrested for her alleged role in an ID theft scheme that used applicant information to create fraudulent licenses. The indictment alleged that she used her position to sell fraudulent drivers licenses to co-schemers who paid between $1,500 to $5,000 for each fraudulent license. She allegedly obtained the identifications of victims from the DMV database and changed their address and identifiers to match the fraudulent purchaser who then had a new DMV photo taken.
What can You do to Protect Yourself?
The good news is there are many things you can do to protect yourself, but you must be proactive. This is a crime you cannot afford to wait to become of a victim of.
1. Order the Feder
How many times have you had a customer say to you; I’ve been shopping around and XYZ mortgage company can get me a better rate and won’t charge me any points.well . . .The lower rate might hold some truth to itbut lets face it . . .Nobody works for free!Here are three things you can do too win your customer over when faced with rate and pricing challenges.1. Sell YourselfWhen a customer is shopping around, the information they give you is usually false, because they are bluffing. You can’t blame them, they, like all of us, are looking for the best deal possible.With this in mind, tell them what you can offer them based on what limited information they can provide you with.During this process, stick to your guns, and give them all the information you can about as many products as you can, this will let them know just how knowledgeable you are, and you will earn their respect.Don’t waste your time asking questions about the programs offered to them by other banks, and telling them the rate they were quoted was probably an ARM, they will find this an insult to their intelligence.Be as courteous and honest as possible, tell them if XYZ bank can get them the rate they quoted you, than they should go with it, they will admire your honesty.Finally . . .Ask the
Some credit card companies promote zero liability for these kinds of fraudulent transactions. However the reality is that there are exclusions including cards used by business purposes, ATM transactions, and certain PIN-based transitions, all transactions processed outside the card issuer's network, and cases where the card holder gave permission for someone else to use their card. You have to read your cardholder agreement carefully to find out the exact details.
Financial Identity Theft has significant impact on a person's life including: financial losses, inaccurate credit reports that can mean being denied a job, difficulty getting new lines of credit, trouble opening new accounts as well as higher costs for loans and insurance. The toll of this kind of financial loss can be significant as can be witnessed in a recent lawsuit filed by a plaintiff against Home Depot, Case #02CC13327 in Orange County Superior Court, where a judge awarded the plaintiff $1 million in damages for identity theft.
Criminal Identity Theft
This is the second most common type of identity theft and most people aren't even aware of it.
In this case, a criminal uses your information during encounters with the police. For example, a thief who has your identifying information gets arrested for a crime and gives them your name and social security number. One day you are driving along and get stopped for a traffic infraction. The cop runs your name through their database and finds out you just committed a bank robbery in another state. Suddenly you are being hauled off to jail for something you didn't even do!
Never mind how stressful and embarrassing this mistake could be, it can also lead to an erroneous criminal record, outstanding arrest warrants, and possible consequences such as being fired from your job for not disclosing a conviction and even get you thrown in jail. What if this happens on a Friday night and they toss you the local jail overnight? Do you have someone you can call that could bail you out? Can you afford this kind of mistake happen in your life?
The results of this kind of criminal identity theft could include a negative impact on future employment, loss of security clearance, lost jobs and higher insurance premiums. It is the most difficult type of ID theft to clear up and in some cases, almost impossible. Some victims have been reduced to carrying court documentation with them at all times to prove who they really are and not the actual criminal.
Social Security Identity Theft
If someone uses your social security number to get a job and they have a continuous work record, guess who gets to pay the tax bill? The answer is you. There are cases where someone's social security number was used a total of 37 times by different people. In the employment screening business, we see this happen every day.
Medical Identity Theft
This kind of ID theft involves someone using your health insurance for medical and/or hospital care. The result is a mixed up medical record that could result in potentially deadly consequences. For example, what would happen if someone used your identification and health insurance number and got an HIV test that proved positive? Now all of a sudden, that record is attached to your medical records and every time you see a healthcare person, they think you have aids. In addition, this can seriously impact your ability to get insurance and it can result in significantly higher insurance premiums.
A recent article in the November 2006 issues of Reader's Digest reported that “fraud is estimated to account for as much as ten percent of all health care costs … including medical identity theft.” “An insurance card is like a Visa card with a $1 million spending limit,” says Byron Hollis, national anti-fraud director of the Blue Cross and Blue Shield Association. The most frightening part of this article is the fact that organized crime rings are realizing how lucrative identity theft is and are adding a new dimension to the problem.
Driver's License Identity Theft
Our driver's license is the standard and most often used form of identification in United States. ID thieves are professionals at creating fake driver's licenses that are virtually impossible to detect. Having this form of picture ID opens the door to numerous other types of ID theft.
On October 28, 2006 in California, a worker at the Santa Ana DMV was arrested for her alleged role in an ID theft scheme that used applicant information to create fraudulent licenses. The indictment alleged that she used her position to sell fraudulent drivers licenses to co-schemers who paid between $1,500 to $5,000 for each fraudulent license. She allegedly obtained the identifications of victims from the DMV database and changed their address and identifiers to match the fraudulent purchaser who then had a new DMV photo taken.
What can You do to Protect Yourself?
The good news is there are many things you can do to protect yourself, but you must be proactive. This is a crime you cannot afford to wait to become of a victim of.
1. Order the Feder
Considering secured home loans as a way to help bring your debt back into check? In that case, there are some things you should know about secured home loans and ways to minimise the potential risk of losing your home.First, consider - that's a scary sounding consequence, but it's a fact. Many lenders prefer secured home loans to unsecured personal loans because the risk of them losing their money is far less. Because you put your house or other property up as collateral to guarantee your repayment of the loan, if you don't pay back a secured loan, you give up the collateral to the lender. Given that as a consequence, there are ways to reduce the risk that you'll lose your home.- The first, of course, is to be certain that you can manage the monthly payment on any secured home loans for which you apply. If your purpose in seeking a secured home loan is to reduce the amount of your monthly loan and credit payments, then your very first step should be to make a fearless accounting of your budget. Put the bills aside for a moment and concentrate on your income. After you've totaled up all your income, subtract all your fixed monthly expenses from it - again, leave any credit payments out of that accounting. Include only those expenses and debts that you'll still have to pay if you use a debt consolidation secured home loans to wipe
The results of this kind of criminal identity theft could include a negative impact on future employment, loss of security clearance, lost jobs and higher insurance premiums. It is the most difficult type of ID theft to clear up and in some cases, almost impossible. Some victims have been reduced to carrying court documentation with them at all times to prove who they really are and not the actual criminal.
Social Security Identity Theft
If someone uses your social security number to get a job and they have a continuous work record, guess who gets to pay the tax bill? The answer is you. There are cases where someone's social security number was used a total of 37 times by different people. In the employment screening business, we see this happen every day.
Medical Identity Theft
This kind of ID theft involves someone using your health insurance for medical and/or hospital care. The result is a mixed up medical record that could result in potentially deadly consequences. For example, what would happen if someone used your identification and health insurance number and got an HIV test that proved positive? Now all of a sudden, that record is attached to your medical records and every time you see a healthcare person, they think you have aids. In addition, this can seriously impact your ability to get insurance and it can result in significantly higher insurance premiums.
A recent article in the November 2006 issues of Reader's Digest reported that “fraud is estimated to account for as much as ten percent of all health care costs … including medical identity theft.” “An insurance card is like a Visa card with a $1 million spending limit,” says Byron Hollis, national anti-fraud director of the Blue Cross and Blue Shield Association. The most frightening part of this article is the fact that organized crime rings are realizing how lucrative identity theft is and are adding a new dimension to the problem.
Driver's License Identity Theft
Our driver's license is the standard and most often used form of identification in United States. ID thieves are professionals at creating fake driver's licenses that are virtually impossible to detect. Having this form of picture ID opens the door to numerous other types of ID theft.
On October 28, 2006 in California, a worker at the Santa Ana DMV was arrested for her alleged role in an ID theft scheme that used applicant information to create fraudulent licenses. The indictment alleged that she used her position to sell fraudulent drivers licenses to co-schemers who paid between $1,500 to $5,000 for each fraudulent license. She allegedly obtained the identifications of victims from the DMV database and changed their address and identifiers to match the fraudulent purchaser who then had a new DMV photo taken.
What can You do to Protect Yourself?
The good news is there are many things you can do to protect yourself, but you must be proactive. This is a crime you cannot afford to wait to become of a victim of.
1. Order the Feder
Though each web site is different, it is possible to build a universal plan of actions that will bring you free targeted web site traffic and convert it into more sales.This plan of actions can be split into three stages:(1) Getting Targeted Traffic(2) Growing The Client Base And Getting More Sales(3) Adjusting Web Site To Current Online Market RequirementsSo, let's briefly cover all the stages.START UP - GETTING TARGETED TRAFFICSTEP # 1. Find joint-venture partners and affiliates in your niche.STEP # 2. Get emails and names of your partners and affiliates-to-be.STEP # 3. Email them your joint-venture or affiliate offer.NOTE: These people will make a great job for you - they will bring targeted users to your web site and advertise your offers for their clients or for targeted online audience. Make sure to offer them good conditions of cooperation: the more motivated they are to work with you, the better they will work to give you targeted web site traffic or advertise your offers.GROWING THE CLIENT BASE - GETTING MORE SALESSTEP # 4. Set up link exchange directory.Try to exchange links with web sites that have a bigger page rank and are niche related to your web site.STEP # 5. Use autoresponder to convert web site visitors into prosp
A recent article in the November 2006 issues of Reader's Digest reported that “fraud is estimated to account for as much as ten percent of all health care costs … including medical identity theft.” “An insurance card is like a Visa card with a $1 million spending limit,” says Byron Hollis, national anti-fraud director of the Blue Cross and Blue Shield Association. The most frightening part of this article is the fact that organized crime rings are realizing how lucrative identity theft is and are adding a new dimension to the problem.
Driver's License Identity Theft
Our driver's license is the standard and most often used form of identification in United States. ID thieves are professionals at creating fake driver's licenses that are virtually impossible to detect. Having this form of picture ID opens the door to numerous other types of ID theft.
On October 28, 2006 in California, a worker at the Santa Ana DMV was arrested for her alleged role in an ID theft scheme that used applicant information to create fraudulent licenses. The indictment alleged that she used her position to sell fraudulent drivers licenses to co-schemers who paid between $1,500 to $5,000 for each fraudulent license. She allegedly obtained the identifications of victims from the DMV database and changed their address and identifiers to match the fraudulent purchaser who then had a new DMV photo taken.
What can You do to Protect Yourself?
The good news is there are many things you can do to protect yourself, but you must be proactive. This is a crime you cannot afford to wait to become of a victim of.
1. Order the Federal Trade Commission's free report on identity theft by visiting www.consumer.gov/idtheft
2. Get a copy of your own credit report and review it carefully for accuracy. Because of the new Fair and Accurate Credit Transactions Act (FACTA) you can get a free copy once a year at www.annualcreditreport.com
3. Be careful with your mail. Don't use an unsecured mailbox when mailing anything containing financial information. Drop off at the post office or in a post office collection box.
4. Guard your trash. Identity thieves will look for credit card receipts and applications, insurance forms, bank statements etc. Buy a shredder and use it regularly.
5. Use your Social Security Number only when absolutely necessary. Before you give your SS# to anyone, ask why it is needed and how it will be used, or shared with others and how the company protects your personal information.
6. Pay attention to billing cycles. If your bills don't arrive on time, follow up with your creditors. A missing statement can mean an ID thief has taken over your account and changed your billing address.
7. Be cautious with online purchases. Before purchasing anything on the internet, look for the icon of a lock in the lower right-hand corner of your browser windows. If it's there, you're dealing with a secure site. It not, you'll be safer finding another merchant.
8. Remove personal information from old computers. Files you think you have deleted from your computer may remain on your hard drive where hackers can easily access them. Use a wipe utility program to delete files with sensitive data.
9. Opt-out of receiving pre-approved credit cards offers in the mail by calling 888 5-OPT-OUT or going to www.optoutprescreen.com
10. Immediately sign up for an ID Theft Shield program which can not only monitor your credit and let you know when anything changes, but can also provide restoration after the fact. Don't wait on this one - For more information email ctaylor75@prepaidlegal.com
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