What are some good practices I should adopt to help avoid identity theft risk?

Major steps in combating and minimizing the risk of identity theft involving junk credit and loan mailings, constant everyday vigilance, internet safety, protecting your social security number, monitoring your credit, and signing up for an identity theft protection service.

What is the deal with junk credit and loan mailings and identity theft?

A major and significant source of identity theft is stolen mail including credit card and loan offers. These result from credit card and lender companies requesting general identifying information from credit reporting agencies for customers that might qualify for their credit (known as a soft credit inquiry since the customers themselves have not actually applied for the loan or credit account first). To avoid these junk credit and loan mailings, you should contact the major credit reporting agencies to notify them that you do not want to be part of any soft credit inquiries by any credit card or loan companies.

How should I be constant vigilant in everyday life to help avoid identity theft?

Another important aspect of identity theft risk minimization is just constant vigilance and care in going about your everyday life. Do not give out sensitive personal information including social security numbers especially to those who shouldn’t need access to that information. Some companies or individuals will ask for social security number as part of their efforts to keep complete personal files when they actually have no legitimate need to even have that information. Even to those that might need that information such as credit card numbers, social security numbers, or banking information, make sure you verify that those you are talking to are actually who they claim to be. If you receive a phone call from a certain company or bank, look up their phone number on their official website and ask for the person by name when you call back.

How do I stay safe on the Internet with my identity and passwords?

Another place where identity theft occurs is on the internet, where passwords, personal information, or bank accounts and logins are stolen. This can happen if you visit unsafe sites, have your computer infected with a virus or trojan, or enter your passwords or information into a website pretending to be the actual legitimate website. To combat these things, you should adopt some safe internet practices. You should change your passwords pretty regularly and do not use the same password for all your different accounts. Also, scan your computer regularly to catch and remove any viruses, trojans, malware, spyware, or adware programs that cyber criminals can use to steal your information, passwords, or identity. Lastly, do not click on links in emails especially those that seemingly come from your bank or credit card company; if you need to visit the bank or credit card website, use your bookmarks or type in the web address yourself into the browser.

How should I protect my social security number?

You should memorize your social security number so that you do not carry around your social security card; keep your social security card in a safe and secure location. Do not give out your social security number to any companies or individuals especially when they ask for it and they would not really have legitimate reason to have it. Some will claim that it is a normal part of their customer identifying information, but requiring that a customer disclose social security number when it is not actually needed is against the law. One thing we should mention here is that your kids should not ever need to know their social security number or have access to their social security card. As identity theft involving children and minors is becoming more prevalent, you should also educate them about the important of safe practices to avoid identity theft. It is a part of your jobs as a parent.

How does looking at my credit report regularly or credit monitoring services help?

Another important aspect of watching over your identity is to watch your credit files and credit reports to spot early signs of fraud such as hard credit inquiries or credit accounts in your name that you do no recognize. This can indicate early stages of identity theft. An option you should strongly consider is a credit monitoring service that watches over your credit file with all three major credit reporting agencies so that you receive notifications of any changes made to them within 24 hours. This way you do not have to constantly check your credit reports yourself and can spot errors or signs of fraud right away and work to fix them. Credit monitoring services are usually a part of an identity protection service that you can sign up for or you can choose to opt for a credit monitoring service by itself.

Yes, I want to protect my identity as best as I can so please tell me about identity protection services?

The last important practice that we recommend is signing up for an identity theft protection service, which will encompass many of the good practices above that we have already mentioned. Identity protection services will set up fraud alerts for you, monitor your credit files, as well as do other things that you might not be able to yourself such as watch black market channels to ensure that your personal information is not being sold or traded by identity criminals. They can guard your other personal information such as medical files, banking information, or any other personal identifying information that is not included in your credit file. Identity protection services usually have a monetary guarantee to cover costs and damages in cases of identity theft. Should you be the unfortunate victim of identity theft, these services will also work as your ally to fix the damage and recover your identity.