Tips To Protect Yourself From Identity Theft

Identity theft is a rapidly growing problem all over the world and if you happen to be a victim, it can take ages to restore a ruined reputation and credit rating. An incredible 27.3 million Americans have been victimized since 2001. There were 9.9 million people victimized in 2004 alone.

To prevent yourself from the nasty consequences of identity theft practice the following safety measures:

Never give anyone your social insurance number unless absolutely necessary. A social insurance number can be used to obtain all kinds of documents in your name as well as trace other information such as your address, birthdate and answers to security questions such as "What's Your Mother's Maiden Names."

Always shred your financial documents - don't just toss them in the trash!! Expert identity thieves often practice "dumpster diving" to retrieve your personal information. Clip up any credit card you ever discard into the tiniest pieces possible.

Be aware of the criminal practice of "phishing!" Phishing is a newer kind of email scam where you are sent an email that looks in every way like it is from your bank or some other kind of financial account that you deal with often (such as Paypal or epassporte.) Usually in these emails you will be told that you need to renew your account in some way or even that you are a victim of identity theft and before you can use your account that they require your account number or password. To avoid this kind of identity theft keep in mind that no banking institution will ever ask you for your password in an email or your account number for that matter.

As another precaution, make sure that you only deal with sites that have SSL (secure socket layer protection). You can tell as these sites begin with https as opposed to http.

Be very wary of any organization that offers to fix your credit for free or offers to obtain your credit report. There are all kinds of scams out there that have to do with obtaining your financial information. Once the crooks have managed to do this they disappear with your information and also a fee you might have paid.

Change your user name and password for your websites several times per year. Never use variations of your name, children's names, birth date, address as passwords criminals could easily figure that out if they have other information about you.

As a protection, most card issuers now suggest that you call from your home phone to activate a new card before you use it. You should also sign the back of the card as soon as you receive it.

Never leave your purse or wallet unattended in public place and never leave it in your house in a place where it could nabbed by thieves in the case of a break in.

If you go out don't take all of your credit cards and financial information with you. Only take the two or three cards that you might actually need as if all of your identification and credit cards are stolen at once they can be a real hassle to replace.

Make sure your mailbox is secure and that it must be accessed by lock and key. Never leave outgoing bill payments in your mailbox or apartment building lobby. Identity thieves masquerading as employees working for the building can pick them up. Instead drop them off at the post office or postal service mailboxes.

Always put your return address on an envelope when you pay a bill through the mail so that it does not end up in some kind slush pile at the post office or elsewhere that identity thieves could easily sift through for information.

Finally, if you do your banking or pay bills online, don't use that function on your Internet browser that allows you to automatically fill in your user name and password when you log in to bank or credit card sites, or to any merchant site that keeps your card number on file. Anyone using your computer would be able to sign on automatically and access all of your accounts because this common computer function just automatically fills everything in. You can deactivate this function in your Internet browser's "preferences" menu.