Don't Become A Victim Of Internet Identity Theft
Every time you log onto your computer, you could potentially become the victim of internet identity theft. Think about all that you do on your computer. You may check your banking information, access your stock portfolio, check your cell phone bill, log onto to your local news service, or whatever else you do. Then, think of what would happen if someone came along and stole your information while you were conducting that business online. How could they do it? Oh, there are people out there who are very good at making others victims of internet identity theft. They know how to figure out passwords, get into your personal information and then they know how to get credit and buy things in your name. Before you know it, your bank account's cleaned out, someone has bought a car in your name and your credit's ruined. Don't let this happen to you.
Don't Use Common Passwords
Rule one of preventing internet identity theft is to use passwords that are not easy to guess. Also, use different passwords for every single webpage that requires them. All of your passwords should include both numbers and letters and they should have nothing to do with your name, your pet, your birthday, etc. Make sure they are so obscure that nobody in a million years would be able to figure them out. However, that's just one way of preventing internet identity theft. Believe it or not, even if you have the most difficult passwords in the world, someone can still steal your identity.
Protect Your Computer
If you conduct business on your home computer, make sure your network is secure. Don't visit web pages you're not sure about and always make sure your firewall is up and is up to date. A firewall will prevent someone else from hacking into your computer to make you a victim of internet identity theft. Also, make sure you have an antivirus program and make sure that's up to date as well. There are viruses that can steal your information and some viruses can even allow someone to take complete control of your computer. Now that would make it very easy for someone to make you a victim of internet identity theft.
Public Computers
If you do use public computers for personal business, such as at the library or at your college, make sure you always log off after you've finished what you're doing and it's also a good idea to clear any cookies and temporary internet files. You can do this by going into the control panel, selecting internet options and then selecting delete cookies and temporary files. That way, someone can't go back in after you've finished to steal your identity.
These may seem like complicated steps but they're really not. It's all about protecting yourself using any means possible as internet identity theft is devastating when it happens to you.
