Ever wonder what law enforcement officials do to protect their identity? Wonder no more because youll discover exactly what the criminals tell police about their identity theft scams.
There were nearly 12 million events of identity theft in the United States in 2006, according to the U.S. Postal Service; which cost consumers about $6.3 billion! Consumers certainly raised their awareness after hearing this dreadful statistic; however, there are still consumers who are unaware of the distinctive techniques these identity thieves use. One renowned identity theft revealed, in an extensive interview, the 4 common mistakes she used to take your money!
Myth #1: Only Men are Identity Thieves
This is a quite common mistake that most identity thieves say make their job that much easier. A major problem is that the media always portrays identity thieves as men. However, most of these criminals are good-looking and well-kept women. You can easily dodge this trap, by being careful with your information around both men and women. Research has shown that both men and women let down their guard around women, as opposed to men. Just keep in mind that any one of us could be a potential identity thief. No need to become paranoid; simply be more careful.
Misconception # 2 Trusting Your Friendly Store Clerk or Waiter
This one is hard to combat because in most cases you are required to hand over personal information and or documents to store clerks or waiters at restaurants. What you may not know is that some of those people who are waiting on you may in fact have two jobs. By day they work in the local department store but at night they have a side job. Their side job is simply to provide a few customers credit card numbers to their friends. This works so well because they have access to your credit card or account number. The only way to really combat this is to review your account statements. It is also a good idea to keep a journal of expenditures greater than a certain dollar amount.
For example, check your statement when it comes in the mail, that way if you notice anything out of the ordinary, even if it's just $50, you catch it. Question: How long does it really take for a store employee to gain complete access to thousands of consumers' personal information? Answer: A very short time. Based on what our infamous identity thief has stated, most of the identity thieves take on jobs for a little while, and after they've collected the data they need, they are long gone sipping mojitos by the bay!
Misconception # 3 Tossing Out That Junk Mail Unopened
Whether you have good credit, great credit or terrible credit, it really does not matter. You will receive in a given month between 12 and 50 plus new offers each month to open new banking, credit accounts. The problem with this is that most of us are lazy. We fall in one of two categories. The first is a person who does not own a personal shredding machine and simply tosses the multiple credit offers in the trash or simply tears them in half and then tosses them. The second is the person who does own a personal shredder but has become too lazy to shred each and every piece of documentation sent to them.
Listen, all a thief has to do is get a hold of one piece of information from your trash can and you quickly become a victim. Dont believe me? Let me ask you this, what are doing at 3a.m.? Really, well guess what our trustworthy identity thief is doing? She is in your trash can randomly pulling a bag out of your can for shifting and sorting later. Tip: After you shred your documents, add a little water to the bag before you seal it and then toss it. Not only will the pages be sliced and diced but will also be a wet and soggy mess, completely unusable by anyone.
Mistake #4: Mailing or Receiving items from Your Home
You're probably catching on by now. These identity thieves commit their crimes in so many different ways. They can steal your credit card payments that you mail out and other outgoing mail from either your private or home mailboxes. According to experts, some of these thieves will even try to file for a change of address in the victim's name, in order to have their mail with personal and financial data sent to them. Suggestion: try to drop all outgoing mail in a U.S. Post Office mailbox. Also, consider trying to open a P.O. Box. This may seem slightly inconvenient, but in order to really protect you, these are some of the necessary steps to take in order to stand up against identity theft.
One of the main issues is that there are various ways to become a victim; you really do need 24 hour a day protection. Don't be afraid to get help!
It's very difficult to protect yourself and your family, successfully, without help. Trying to do it alone can be worrisome and not very effective. It makes a huge difference when you have someone protecting you who has actually been through the storm! LifeLock is a company who has absolutely outstanding identity theft protection for everyday people.
When selecting a service to monitor and proactively protect your credit, make sure they have been recommended by over and over by top law enforcement personnel and their service has been proven to work in real world situations.
Identity Theft Prevention and Identity Theft Protection are nothing to joke about. STOP Identity Theft with LifeLock. LifeLock guarantees identity theft will NEVER happen to you. Please visit lifelock.com to learn more about how to protect you and your loved ones from identity theft.
Author Resource:
Author Linda Seamore is a consumer advocate dedicated to teaching people how to protect their identity. After months of exhausting research, she stumbled upon LifeLock.com the industry leader in ID theft protection. Life Lock is a proactive identity theft protection agency, specializing in prevention of identity theft rather than just the reporting of it.
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