How Do I Avoid Identity Theft

If your identity has been stolen and you are looking for identity theft information, you are unfortunately a little too late. The best thing you can do to stop your identity being stolen is to be proactive and prevent it before it ever begins. Identity theft is the fastest growing crime in America and whether you know it or not, you may already have been a victim. We all know that we should take care of our Social Security number, because that is the real key to our identity. That number determines our credit worthiness, our social benefits, and even how much we will make in retirement. You need to protect this number at all costs. You can also find more information from other resources:

* Your local police department will have at least one officer, if not an entire department, dedicated consumer fraud including the theft of identities. They can give you lots of tips on how to prevent this crime from occurring and what to do after the event.

* You can get information from the three major credit reporting agencies. Although they may not be particularly helpful after an identity crime has occurred, they do have plenty of information that can help you prevent the crime.

* Your state and the federal government have websites that are fully dedicated to theft of identities and online criminal activities. By finding out the many ways that thieves are trying to get your money and get your identity, you will be better able to protect yourself.

Perhaps the best resource for identity theft information is a company that provides identity theft protection. Their business is to protect you from having your personal information becoming compromised and they can provide you with software and tips to prevent it from happening in the first place.

We tend to push things to the back burner but reporting identity theft is your first call to action if your personal information is compromised. Why is this so vital? Because every piece of personal information you have can be used by another person with damaging results.

You think a simple piece of paper, let’s say your car registration couldn’t possibly pose any harm but what if someone could become you and walk into the DMV with the correct information and simply change the address? It could happen…

Haven’t you ever noticed customer service agents who tend not to follow the rules? Sometimes we neglect to ask every question or request all the correct documents to prove your identity; what if someone just walked into the library and opened up a library card? Did you know this is another form of identity? OK, what if they continued on to DMV with a brilliant convincing story of being you? They change your address; take a new driver license picture and Walla! You now have a twin using your personal information.
It happens frequently but you don’t hear about it often because how many businesses will confirm all the mistakes they make?

Your first problem is becoming aware of identity theft and if this does happen to you, reporting identity theft to the correct authorities can help lessen the damages; and there will be future damages and repercussions.

When reporting identity theft be sure to go to your local police department first and file a report. This will make the crime official and you have something to show later if anyone doubts your story like debt collectors who will began calling you.

Next, call or write the FTC and file a report. It may be early however if you find that new credit accounts began popping up in various states, contact your local secret service agency because they deal with intra-state crimes, especially financial crimes.

Finally, do not forget to write a letter to all 3 credit bureaus explaining the need for reporting identity theft and attach a copy of the police report that details the crime.

So why did this happen?

There are a variety of reasons people steal your identity but will your thief sell it on the black market or will he/she use it to buy luxuries for themself? Either one can mean years of trying to fix the damage.

The more damaging aspect is if the thief sells your personal information on the black market; then you will probably have several states to track down a slew of people who probably opened accounts in your name. This scenario is painstakingly long and drawn out because this type of theft goes in several different directions and imagine the issues you’ll have with your credit report; running in a circle, state to state trying to catch a thief.

One of the reasons more and more people are investing in credit insurance, better known as identity theft protection from companies like LifeLock is because of the devastation that’s left behind. Just think of the position you’d be in if you could not get credit to buy a car, open a bank account or even rent a nice apartment? This happens time and time again to anyone of any ethnicity, age group or financial category.

Remember,a thief doesn’t care about what you don’t have, it’s what you do have that can be utilized in the world and that’s your good name.