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Prevent Identity Theft By Being Savvy

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Identity theft, globally, is a rampant social and legal problem that has affected many people.  Identity theft is that action perpetuated on another individual in which the innocent person’s personal information is stolen.  Generally, this captured personal information is utilized by the thief to conduct many negative actions by posing as that individual.

Some of those negative purposes of utilizing someone else’s identity can include the creation of new credit card accounts, accessing the individual’s financial information and accounts, or other deceptive practices gained by using a person’s identity.  The primary reason for identity theft is for monetary gain.   Obviously, identity theft is not only of great concern for the individual affected, but by the financial institutions that are deceived by this practice.  

Therefore, in order to prevent identity theft, there are some important measures that individuals can take.  Those measures include the monitoring of credit reports, shredding information, and adhering to certain safety measures that involve the postal system.

Credit Reports

One of the critical and quickest ways to prevent identity theft is through the person’s credit report.  It is highly recommended that an individual check their credit reports, at a minimum, on a yearly basis.  Credit reports are available, at no charge, to consumers yearly.  The three credit reporting agencies are Experian, Trans-union and Equifax.

However, if you wish to check your credit report more frequently there is another option associated with credit reports.  This option, to prevent identity theft, can be exercised by committing to a monthly program that will monitor your monthly credit activity.  An alert is sent to you when there is abnormal activity monitored by this service.  This service is offered by various services in concert with the credit reporting companies and can be activated through a monthly fee.

Shred Documents

An additional measure that can be utilized to prevent identity theft is to properly destroy sensitive personal information.  Often identity theft can be traced back to individuals who search the trash of their potential victims looking for personal data.  Some of this personal information can be credit card statements, correspondence that includes social security numbers, credit card offers, etc.

The best way to destroy this information is to utilize a shredder.  Two common types of shredders are the strip shredders and the cross cut shredder.  The cross cut shredder is probably the most effective as it cuts the document in both a horizontal and vertical manner.

Mail Boxes

One additional way that may help to prevent identity theft is by being sensitive to the mail delivery system.  Everyday, new credit offers arrive at the consumer’s home.  To prevent these offers from falling into the wrong hands there are a number of options.

One option is to secure the mailbox used to receive your daily mail.  Also, to prevent identity theft, rather than leaving mail outside the home for pickup from the postal service, it is best to place outgoing mail in an authorized mail box.  Also, if the credit card offers are declined it is best to shred those credit card offers so that they will not fall into the hands of identity thieves.