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What Is Identity Theft?
If someone else uses your name, birth date, social security number or any other personal identifying information for illegal gain, he is resorting to Identity theft. In 2001 alone, there were some 500,000 reported cases of identity thefts.
Just a few years ago, your social security number was printed on your driver's license and on your checks. But today, things have changed. Imagine your driver's license being copied for inclusion in a file, which anyone can access. Your checks. are issued to total strangers along with your identity. With such information freely available, it is no wonder that intelligent thieves started cashing in on the easy money.
It may not possible to completely prevent identity thefts; however, there are ways to make it tough for a thief to achieve his objective. Some ways to discourage the theft of your identity are listed below:
- Never ever, reveal your social security number to anybody. Keep it a closely guarded secret.
- Your credit report must be monitored constantly to check for any anomalies and misappropriation.
- Check your credit card bills for any dubious charges. It will help you to detect the loopholes and initiate
the process of registering your complaint.
- Always use a shredder. Destroy all papers in the shredder before throwing them into the trash. Destroyed pieces are of no use to anybody.
- Never carry extra credit cards or checks in person unless necessary.
- Never mention your social security number on your checks. This will prevent your social security number falling into the
wrong hand.
- Never part with your credit card numbers with strangers, or anyone whom you do not trust.
- Never provide personal information over the phone. Unless you initiate the call, never utter a single
word about your personal information.
- Always use a name other than your father's middle name as security on your credit card accounts.
The tragedy here is that you don't even realize that you have been victimized till it's too late. A cheater can withdraw your money from your bank account, run up your credit card account with huge debts, and/or obtain big loans. You will not be aware of the theft till you receive the statement or get calls from collection agent for payments. Even though you do not pay back, all that was stolen from your account, it will take quite a while to repair the damage to your credit rating.
If you feel that, you are beyond identity theft then think again
as it can happen to you as well. People who thought that they could not be cheated have lost their jobs, got their credit ruined, and some of them have even ended up behind bars. So take every possible precaution to avoid occurrence of such incidents that can happen due to your negligence. It is rightly said - "Prevention is better than cure."
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