How to Protect Yourself from Identity Theft and Financial Fraud

It seems that on an all-too-frequent basis you hear that one big company or another has been hacked and customer information has been stolen.  Or, maybe you have a friend or neighbor that has been a victim of identity theft, and you have watched while they go through the stress and turmoil of rebuilding credit, restoring accounts, and dealing with the after affects of this crime.  Learning how to protect yourself from identity theft can help keep you from experiencing the headache, expense, and time needed to recover.

There are many ways to keep your identity secure – some are manual, while others rely on how you interact with technology. The most basic way to stay secure is to know where your identifying documents are and to keep them safe.  Lock up your Social Security card or other identifying and important documents in a fireproof box.  Never carry your Social Security card with you.

Make sure your mailbox is secure.  Many identity thieves get access to your information by stealing mail out of your mailbox. Open all of your mail.  Read all of your account statements each month.  Shred any mail or documents that have your personal or financial information on them.  Identity thieves also collect information from your trash; shredding documents keeps this from happening.

Get a copy of your credit reports from each of the three credit reporting agencies and read them for accuracy.   Be sure to keep your credit reports in a safe and secure place, too.

Never give out personal information to a stranger that rings your doorbell or calls you on the phone.

Be aware of how you use technology.  Create passwords that do not contain family names, birth or anniversary dates, or any word that can be found in a dictionary.  Make sure passwords are longer than six characters and contain a combination of capital and lower case letters, numbers, and characters.  Change your passwords every month.  Use only one credit card to conduct all of your online purchases.  Never use a debit card online.  Never respond to unsolicited emails asking for personal information, even if they look like they are coming from you bank or credit union.  Call the customer service number for your bank or credit union instead.

Finally, be careful with your social media use.  Use social media privacy settings and wait on sending out you vacation pictures until after you are home.