Ask Anissa: What Can I do to Help Prevent Identity Theft?

Question: I have seen many stories and heard horrible stories of people who were victims of identity theft. I recently found out that I had unknowingly signed up for a service through my bank (so they say, but, I rarely go inside my bank, which I would have had to in order to sign up for this service) and was being charged $12.95 every month. I wasn't a victim of ID theft, but, until I really did my research, I thought that I might have been. Besides the normal shredding of documents and online banking what can I do? Theresa R., Rhode Island

Answer: Great question Theresa, there are many things you can do to prevent Identity Theft, although none are sure fire guarantees. One thing to keep in mind is that the less info you have in your physical mail box for a thief, the better. Also, most of us believe that if we have some type of spyware detection that thieves cannot get our passwords and info from our computers. I just recently learned that just because I use RoboForm and spyware programs on my computer, I still am vulnerable to thieves. I recently got our computers signed up for service through WifiSecurityGuy (I cannot explain it all because of the technical wording etc, but watch their videos).

With just a few numbers, an identity thief can empty your bank accounts, open and max out new credit card accounts, and turn your life upside down. Identity theft is one of the most widespread and fastest growing crimes in the world. In 2006, 8.4 million Americans became victims of identity theft. We need to be vigilant in our personal efforts to keep our personal info out of the hands of thieves.

This is a pretty standard list of things that you can do to help prevent your identity from being stolen.

1. Check your credit report
2. Buy a shredder
3. Only carry what you need
4. Debit or Credit? (Debit cards are less secure)
5. Opt out of Unsolicited card offers
6. Don't give your personal information away
7. Watch where you swipe (watch for skimming devices)
8. Get a Spyware detector and Encryption/Security Personal Services
9. Use different passwords for different accounts
10. Don't open or respond to email from anyone you do not know
11. Use gel ink to fill out checks
12. Get a P.O. Box
13. Check your receipts
14. Pay your bills online
15. Enroll in online banking

This is a basic list, but there is so much more to each one of these 15 things and so many other things that you can do to protect yourself from identity theft. One thing you can do for your children is to check their credit once every year. Their is a trend among thieves to use infants' and children's social security numbers. These numbers give thieves free reign for 16 years or more. If you find any activity on your child's credit report, and report as fraud. This will help avoid  the calamity of finding out about it when your child applies for their first jon or a student loan only to find out that they have years of bad credit on their report. Online Security Authority also has many good tips and articles on this very subject along with links to other sites that have helpful information.