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Identity Theft - Should I Worry?

By: Scott Thrall

We are a trusting society. On a daily basis most of us are very casual with the personal information that defines us, financially and legally speaking. When it comes to safeguarding our personal information, we are less than digilant.

With the prevalence of new and improved technology designed to make our lives easier and more efficient comes more opportunity for thieves to access our personal information.

The FTC estimates that as many as 8.9 million Americans had their identities stolen in 2006. The FTC also found that identity theft costs an average of $6,383 per incident.

Nearly 85% of all identity theft victims found out they were victims in a negative way.

Identity thieves use burglary, "dumpster diving" (rummaging through trash), and "phishing" and many other methods to access our personal information.

"Phishing" is an email scam where the thief sends a very convincing email from a known financial institution asking for personal information to clear up a few questions. It all looks legitimate, however you are being redirected to the thieves site, which disappears, with your critical information.

Hopefully you are asking yourself what you can do to protect your identity. First and foremost, when it comes to your personal information - trust no one.

  • Watch your accounts closely.

  • Do not carry your Social Security card, ask if you really need to disclose your Social Security number.

  • Photocopy all your credit cards, front and back, and keep them in a safe place in case you need to report a theft.

  • When your order checks omit your Social Security number, drivers license number, and possibly use only your first and middle name initials.

  • Shred personal information before discarding.
Nothing we do can guarantee 100% we will never fall victim to identity thieves. Identity thieves look for the easy victim. When you add security levels to your personal information you distance yourself from being a victim.

 

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For more ways to add security levels to your personal information visit http://www.Lifelock-Identity-Protection.com