How to Protect Yourself from Identify Theft | Legal

By PaulWilcox
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Word Count: 386

Would you ever consider driving in rush hour with a blindfold on? If you do I'd like to know where you're driving please. Protecting yourself from identity theft is equally as important. Don't think just because you're educated or poor that it couldn't happen to you. It happens to people from all walks of life. According to The President's Identity Theft Task Force, there can be as many as 10 million victims of identity theft yearly. You can however, learn to protect yourself by using common sense and it won't cost you a thing.

Obtain You Credit Report

Obtaining your annual credit report is probably one of the best things that you can do for yourself. You can obtain these free credit reports yearly from Equifax, Transunion or Experian. You can also go on line to AnnualCreditReport.com. This will enable you to see if there are any disputable transactions your accounts may have or if a loan has been taken out in your name. The earlier you can find a discrepancy, the earlier you can try to fix it.

Also, keep track of your monthly bank or credit card statements. They will also show any questionable transactions and protect you from identity theft.

Stay Alert

Cash is valuable, right? Well, so is your drivers license, Social Security card and laptop computer. Think of them as valuable as cash " they certainly are to a thief! Keep physical contact on them at all times when you are outside your home. Dont leave them unsupervised of sitting on the seats in a locked car even for a few minutes.

Emails Seeking Information

If you get an email looking for personal information such as account numbers or passwords that you think may be from your bank, it's likely that it isn't really your bank emailing you but someone looking to gather information. These emails can be made to look as realistic as needed in order to seem legitimate. The best thing that you can do is not even respond to these messages. But if you happen to realize after the fact that you have replied to one of these sites mimicking another such as eBay, contact eBay immediately and change your password and freeze your account. Hopefully nothing will happen other than learning a valuable lesson in identity theft.

About the Author

Are you worried about identity theft and other types of internet threats? Find out how to set up solid internet security so you don't get taken on the net. Get more helpful tips and safety information at http://www.securitymanor.com

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