Do You Make These 6 Mistakes To
Help Your Identity Thief?
Your social security number is the pot of gold for your identity thief. You make it easy for him by:
- Carrying your SSN in your wallet/purse.
- Writing it on checks.
- Writing it on forms just because the blank line is there.
- Letting your university or workplace use it as an ID.
Your thief loves your mail and you provide easy access for him.
- You have an unlockable mailbox and raise the red flag to let your thief know you're ready to share.
- You don't notice when there is unusual break in mail service.
- You mail your sensitive information in your local mailbox instead of taking it to the post office.
- You forget to submit a change of address when you move.
- You still receive pre-approved credit card offers because you have not opted out at 1-888-5OPTOUT or www.optoutprescreen.com.
Many times the identity thief knows their victims and has easy access to sensitive data.
- Visitors to your home are likely to see sensitive mail, forms, etc laying out in open view.
- You keep your tax returns and financial spreadsheets on your computer without password protection.
- You leave pay stubs and other interesting information in the front seat of your car.
- You don't own a cross-cut shredder.
- You put sensitive data in your garbage.
Monitoring your credit report is your best opportunity to detect identity theft.
- You don't order your free annual credit reports.
- You don't thoroughly review all credit report entries.
- You don't try to correct false entries and convince yourself that it's probably just a typo.
Many people use their credit cards for daily purchases. Thieves may charge small amounts hoping you don't notice.
- You don't verify every entry on your credit card and bank statements.
- You don't realize when your statement doesn't arrive on time.
Public computers are convenient, but it's no place to enter sensitive information. You don't know who uses the computer before or after you. Who's watching your entries?
- You check your bank account balance.
- You logon to web sites and enter your passwords.
- You leave the auto-complete feature enabled so the next person has a possibility of reviewing your entries.
- You accept the "save my information for next time" prompts.
This information is brought to you from the real Danny Lents at www.IdTheftAwareness.com . Knowledge, awareness, and detection are key elements in the fight against identity theft. Please share this information with people you care about.
Email me if you're interested in having an ID theft speaker at your location. I will motivate your audience to take preventive actions with my passion, personal experience, and research in this issue.