Identity Theft - how to prevent it:
Over 500,000 Americans are victims of identity theft each year, and this number is growing. Surprisingly, it does not matter what economic bracket you are in, or how good your credit rating is - identity theft can still happen to you. If you don't follow some of the below tips to preventing it you could find yourself with a mangled credit rating, and lost money.
Keep tight control over your Social Security Number. This is the prime number that an Identity Thief wants to acquire. Identity Theft is much more difficult to perform without this number. You should only give out your social security number when absolutely required. If it is demanded, then ask if you can give an alternate number, often this is the case.
Be careful with your credit card receipts. Many of them list your full account numbers on them, including your expiry dates.
Buy a cross-cut shredder. Use it to shred all your sensitive information. The most common method of acquiring information for identity theft is through un shredded receipts or bills. A cross-cut shredder costs a bit more than a standard shredder, however, it is superior to a standard shredder.
When filling out credit applications, always use the same information, full name, including your middle name if applicable. Also, make certain that all the bills that come to your house are la bled in the same manner - the name and address information should match on all of them.
Keep a close eye on your credit report - at the very least, check it once a year. You can check yours here for free. Monitor all your credit cards and store cards for identity theft. If you are concerned about identity theft (and have a strong credit rating) you can close out your unused credit cards. However, if you are trying to build a strong credit rating, you may wish to keep those credit cards to preserve a credit history. If this is the case, keep a close watch on them, even if you don't use them.
Keep your drivers licence and social security card separate at all times to prevent identity theft. Better yet, memorize your social security number. If someone gets ahold of both your drivers licence and social security number, then identity theft is incredibly easy for the thief.
If you are contacted by a telephone solicitor - don't give them any information - especially your social security number.
When you are entering credit information online (required to check your credit history for example) make certain that the session is encrypted. If you look at the web sites address and you see: http:// the session is not encrypted. However, if the first letters are https:// (notice that there is an additional "s" in there) Then the session is encrypted, and is much safer. In fact, as you begin to recognize this while online, you will have taken a great step towards preventing identity theft.