Identity theft affects everybody, regardless of age, vocation, profession, gender. It can take a huge toll on individuals, business organizations and business owners too. So it does make sense to invest a bit of thought and time in measures that can help prevent identity theft isn’t it?

Professional help

There are many experts out there who can help protect your identity. So along with all your personal efforts, you can also read through Lifelock review and pick up a plan that suits your needs. Professional support means advantages such as:

• Alerts on any possible fraudulent activity with respect to your personal information.
• Help in identity restoration as well.
• A broader area of monitoring when it comes to monitoring the application of your personal information.

At the ATM

Withdrawing money and executing other financial transactions have been made so easy with ATMs popping up everywhere. Here are a few things you can do to make ATM usage safer for yourself:

• Be aware of skimming machines and cameras fixed in such a way that they can capture your PIN.
• If you are traveling, withdraw money only from ATMs that are found in your hotel or even visit the local branch of your bank.
• Keep all your receipts safely. Do not throw away the receipt generated by the ATM in the premises.

Credit report

You are entitled to three free credit reports every year from the leading credit bureaus. Use this facility diligently. Check your reports for any kind of suspicious activity. Professional identity protection companies monitor the same for you and tell you about any untoward activity. The moment you detect the same, you should contact your credit card company, loan agency, bank and so on to tell them about it as well.

Bills and statements

Monitor your bills and statements too. This includes:

• Credit cards.
• Debit card usage.
• Social security number.
• Bank accounts.
• Monthly bills for utilities and so on.

If a bill is late, contact your service provider to find out what happened. If you get a bill for some product that you have not used, contact the seller and explain the error rather than ignoring it.

Social media

By all means, use your favorite social media networking site to live a public life but be very careful about the kind of information you post there. Establish privacy settings to make your profile readable or accessible only to the friends that you know and not the public at large. Posting pictures while you are away from home lets everybody know that your home is open to burglary.

Passwords

Your password is one of the strongest items of protection in your arsenal. Use it well. Create unique passwords that cannot be guessed or broken easily. Do not share your password with anybody. Make each password different – so every account of yours has a unique password. Otherwise, if the identity thief guesses one password, he or she will have access to every single account of yours.

Simple steps can indeed go a long way in helping to prevent identity theft.

Categories: General