How Do I Avoid Identity Theft

Posts Tagged ‘Computer Laptop’

The Internet has made life a lot simpler for most of us. Information is available to us at the click of a mouse, we can send messages to people on the other side of the world through email, and we can download books and important documents online. The flipside of the Internet boom is cyber crime. It is now a lot easier for someone bent on identity theft to access your personal information.

Here are some ways to protect yourself against online identity theft.

Online Identity Theft: Precautions

Your personal computer, laptop, or PDAs have a lot of information on your bank account, credit card, online bank accounts and PIN number. Imagine how much damage an identity thief can cause by getting his hands on just your laptop. Alternatively, he could hack into your account and access the information needed. Here are some ways to ensure that you do not become a victim of online identity theft.

1) Passwords: Try to block unauthorized access to your PC or laptop by using passwords. Use passwords for all devices you use for storing personal information, whether PDAs or laptops.

2) Never Have the PC “remember” Your Password: That little icon you need to click to get your PC to store and automatically fill up your password when you log in seems very useful. However, resist the temptation to use this convenient option, since all an identity thief has to do is click the icon (your login ID is not difficult to get) and viola! - He is in!

3) Change Passwords: Keep changing passwords often. This minimizes the risk of your identity being stolen.

4) Anti virus: It would be very careless to run the system without proper protection against viruses. Sometimes, you may not even realize that your PC has been infected, while an identity thief might be accessing all the information on your system.

5) File Sharing: File sharing is a potential threat to all PC and laptop users. File sharing allows two way transfer of information, which means that while you can access the information on somebody else’s system, the other person also gets access to your system, often without your knowledge.

6) Phishing: “Phishing” refers to the malpractice of assuming the identity of a legitimate party in order to extract information from you. The next time you receive a statement from your bank in your email asking for your PIN number, call the bank and confirm before you give away your personal information.

Identity theft can be traumatic as well as dangerous, since it could land you in a mess for what someone else has done. Do not wait for the disaster to happen; take steps to protect yourself against identity theft now.