How Do I Avoid Identity Theft

Posts Tagged ‘Financial Documents’

Teens Identity Theft - Learn About Money Management and Best Way …

August 4th, 2010 |

How do you keep your teens from getting their identity stolen? This is very important today with the popularity of the internet.

However, while the internet is a very popular place for identity theft, your teen’s information can get stolen offline as well. For instance, someone serving you at a restaurant could jot down a credit card number. Or your teen could lose their credit card at a store.

And if your child’s credit gets taken, the thief will use their card to make a lot of purchases. Since they will not pay for them, this will cause your kids’ credit score to go down severely. While this might be able to get recovered, it’s a long and arduous process.

So how do you prevent identity theft? Here are four sure ways to avoid them:

1. Avoid unsecure sites

You don’t have to worry about them giving sensitive information to larger sites like Amazon or eBay. However, many of the smaller sites are not very trustworthy.

Many of them will take their information and use it themselves. How do you avoid these sites? Just make sure you read reviews about any site they are considering giving sensitive information to. It’s always better to be safe than sorry.

2. Avoid scams

Often times scammers will send fake emails from legitimate sites such as PayPal or eBay, asking for their sensitive information. They will usually say they need to update their member information, or something to that effect.

The emails usually look very official. However, legitimate sites will never email anyone asking for sensitive info. Alert your teens to these common scams.

3. Shred sensitive info

This is one of the most popular methods of preventing identity theft, because it works. If your kids have bills and other financial documents they are trashing, shred them first. Anything that has their license, social security, bank account, or credit card number must be cut up.

They can either do this themselves or purchase a shredder. This will cut it much faster, although it’s obviously more expensive.

4. Be wary of file sharing sites

These are extremely widely used among teens. They are also among the most dangerous sites. They enable people to give others their computer files, so it can easily go wrong if important data is transferred. Be certain the computer’s settings will prevent any important files from getting shared.

Identity theft is very common. In some instances you can’t do anything about it, such as if somebody hacks into your child’s bank account. However, most times you can prevent it. Implement these four tips, and your kids should be safe.

Posted in how do i avoid identity theft |

Tags: Amazon, Credit Card Number, Credit Score, Ebay, Fake Emails, Financial Documents, Identity Management, Jot Down, Money Management, Paypal, Popularity Of The Internet, Preventing Identity Theft, Scammers, Scams, Security Bank, Social Security, Teens, Thief |

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To Shred Or Not to Shred, That is the Question

July 23rd, 2010 |

Author: ID Theft PRO

It’s time to move on to a paperless age. But knowing what to do with all these important paper stuffs is a big challenge for all of us. There are a lot of things to consider in disposing or discarding them. Especially the medical and financial documents, we must be careful that these documents don’t get to the wrong hands, or else we can become one of those millions of people that are victims of Identity Theft. In the past months there are stories mushrooming about important documents being found in the dumpster or near the dumpster of a self storage facilities. This can be alarming to some extent. Because having or renting a self storage unit should make your personal documents safe. We should be careful in cleaning out our self storage unit, we shouldn’t just throw it in the garbage as it is, but instead, we should take some necessary steps before doing that, like shredding the papers before disposing them is a good practice.

Prevention is better than cure. We can prevent Identity thieves by making sure that we keep our personal data safe and in a secured place. Important documents should be in a place inaccessible to others except you. It shouldn’t be left just anywhere where a people can have easy access. Old records should be discarded properly and again shredding it the best practice in disposing documents containing personal data.

It has been a practice in Arizona to have to have 2 shred days. People from all walks of life are free to join and shred their documents. Disposing old documents is one way to make your space clutter-free. But you need to make sure that you won’t need any of those documents in the future. Just in case, you are doubtful about it. You can just keep it or store it where it will be safe and secured. You can have it scanned and stored in a secured computer for easy paperless reference in the future.

And before you start throwing papers at the paper shredder we need to know when is the proper time to discard them and when not to do that.

1. For tax returns and supporting documents you will need to keep these the longest that you can keep it is 7-8 years.

2. Retirement records like your monthly pension records, contributions must always be kept.

3. If you are into buying stocks you need to keep the records as long as you still own it and of course the receipt and tax returns for 8 years.

4. Bills need to be kept up until you have the proof that it was already settled. Some of it like credit card bills must be kept until you receive the next statement

5. Your real estate records should be kept for as long as you own the property or 7 years after it was sold.

6. All documents that relate to tax-deductible expenses must be kept as well.

Posted in how do i avoid identity theft |

Tags: Clutter, Dumpster, Easy Access, Extent, Financial Documents, Garbage, Necessary Steps, Paper Shredder, People, Personal Data, Personal Documents, Prevention Is Better Than Cure, Proper Time, Self Storage Facilities, Self Storage Unit, Stuffs, Thieves, Victims Of Identity Theft, Walks Of Life, Wrong Hands |

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Identity Theft Prevention - The best HOT news! Blogs, Videos, News …

June 11th, 2010 |

Author: ID Theft PRO

What Can You Do to Protect Yourself? Explains the steps you can take to protect yourself from identity theft. Identity theft is a serious crime. It occurs when your personal information is stolen and used without your knowledge to commit fraud or other crimes. Identity theft can cost you time and money. It can destroy your credit and ruin your good name. Deter identity thieves by safeguarding your information. ? Shred financial documents and paperwork with personal information before you discard them. ? Protect your Social Security number. Don’t carry your Social Security card in your wallet or write your Social Security number on a check. Give it out only if absolutely necessary or ask to use another identifier. ? Don’t give out personal information on the phone, through the mail, or over the Internet unless you know who you are dealing with. ? Never click on links sent in unsolicited emails; instead, type in a web address you know. Use firewalls, anti-spyware, and anti-virus software to protect your home computer; keep them up-to-date. Visit OnGuardOnline.gov for more information. ? Don’t use an obvious password like your birth date, your mother’s maiden name, or the last four digits of your Social Security number. ? Keep your personal information in a secure place at home, especially if you have roommates, employ outside help, or are having work done in your house. Defend against ID theft as soon as you suspect it. ? Place a “Fraud Alert” on your credit reports …

Posted in how do i avoid identity theft |

Tags: Anti Virus Software, Birth Date, Financial Documents, Fraud Alert, Home Computer, Hot News, Last Four Digits, Maiden Name, Mail, Paperwork, Roommates, Secure Place, Social Security, Social Security Card, Social Security Number, Theft Prevention, Thieves, Time And Money, Unsolicited Emails, Wallet |

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Essential Advice On The Importance Of Getting A Free Credit Check …

June 8th, 2010 |

Author: ID Theft PRO

tobaccosmoke » Blog Archive » Protect Yourself And Your Finances …

March 30th, 2010 |

Author: ID Theft PRO

As more and more people use the Internet for banking, shopping and everyday interactions, danger online privacy seem only to worsen. Almost everyone has heard stories from a friend or relative, or have had their identity kidnapped or a victim of online fraud. If you want to protect your finances and your credit rating, it is important to be aware of the fact that identity theft is and what you can do to prevent it.

What is a kidnapped identity?

More than 2 million people were victims of identity theft in the United States last year. Although this figure varies depending on how to define “identity theft”, their number is increasing every year since 2000.

When the identity of the ” kidnapped ” what happens basically is that the other person uses your bank account information or Social Security number to connect to your credit to open accounts without your permission or knowledge. Because it can take months or even years before it became aware of this, there is the potential for tens of thousands of dollars to be levied in your name.

How to prevent theft

Although there is no way to completely prevent identity theft, you can use a proactive approach to monitoring your credit. This is a smart way, not only to avoid complications, but in practice, good sense of money in the future.

- The original theft could happen with any number of sources, including receipts, financial documents, mail or kidnapped wallets or purses. It is better to shred all documents containing personal information, keep your mailbox in a safe place (or block), and remove all cards from lost or kidnapped wallet at once.

- Regularly check one of the three major credit reporting agencies (Equifax, Experian and TransUnion) changes in your favor. Anything that looks suspicious, including accounts not opened, or credit you do not remember the application, must be investigated immediately.

What to do in case if your identity is kidnapped

If you find that you are a victim of identity theft, the most important thing you can do is to act quickly. The longer you wait, the greater the financial loss that will occur, and the harder it is to repair these losses in the future.

Contact your local police department. Identity theft as any other theft and it must be reported to the appropriate authorities. The sooner you get on the record of theft, the better.

Keep records of every police report you file. Financial institutions and issuers of credit cards do you undergo a rigorous process to cleanse you of charges. Maintaining good copies from the start will be important to facilitate this process.

Fill data theft under oath. These documents as well as police reports, in which it allows you to document the issue as efficiently as possible. Consider fraud prevention or monitoring service. Many of them cost about $ 5 a month, and immediately notify you of any changes in your credit ratings – such as those that you make and those made by potential thieves.

If you are a victim of identity theft, or if you are concerned about this happening to you, you can seek the assistance of financial advisor. Your adviser can help you establish a monitoring system to prevent future losses and begin to rebuild your financial situation and get you back on its feet.

Need help with financial planning – then we seriously recommend you to visit this web site with financial planning advice and other useful information.

Plus, one more piece of advice – today the Internet technologies give you a truly unique chance to choose what you need at the best terms which are available on the market. Funny, but most of the people don’t use this chance. In real life it means that you should use all the tools of today to get the information that you need.

Search Google and other search engines for financial planning systems. Visit social networks and check the accounts that are relevant to your topic. Go to the niche forums and participate in the online discussion. All this will help you to build up a true vision of this market. Thus, giving you a real chance to make a smart and nicely balanced decision.

P.S. And also sign up to the RSS on this blog, because we will everything possible to keep updating this blog with new publications about the market of financial planning products and services.

This entry was posted on Tuesday, March 30th, 2010 @ 11:00 am on the category BUSINESS & FINANCIAL and tagged complete financial planning, finance, financial planning, financial planning products, financial planning systems.
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Posted in how do i avoid identity theft |

Tags: Blog Archive, Credit Rating, Credit Reporting Agencies, Equifax, Everyday Interactions, Experian, Financial Documents, Good Sense, Mail, Major Credit Reporting Agencies, Proactive Approach, Purses, Receipts, Safe Place, Social Security Number, Thousands Of Dollars, Three Major Credit Reporting Agencies, Victims Of Identity Theft, Wallet, Wallets |

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