Know How Identity Theft Is Done And Prevent It
Do you know what identity theft is in the first place? Can you define it? Identity theft is when somebody is able to successfully impersonate you for some illegal gain. This could in the form of financial gain, a job and even medical insurance.
How Can Someone Impersonate You - Identity Theft Is Easy
This is actually not as difficult as you would think. What the thief needs is one or two important personal information about you, which is most often than not done over phone or online. The theft can be done offline as well. Once you get an idea about the methods in which identity theft
could be possible you might be able to protect and save yourself from a lot of headache and heartache.
An identity thief could be going through your garbage to find out bits and pieces about you, which could be used to steal your identity. Be careful what you throw in the trash. If you are throwing out checkbook stubs, credit card paid bills or receipts ensure that you tear them into small irreconcilable pieces or run them through a shredder. Ensure that nothing that you throw in the trash can be used to gather anything personal about you.
Beware of the person who hovers around the ATM when you are drawing your cash. Some of these seemingly innocent people would be watching you to learn your pin and your card number. These people are trained to capture such information even with a passing glance so be careful. If they manage to do so, all that have to do is steal your wallet and they could then clear your bank account.
Identity theft can be done online by accessing the Web pages you are using and stealing that information by scanning those very pages. This is why you should be very careful where and how you write your credit card number. It is amazingly easy to pick up the credit card details from an unsecured web site. Never key in your credit card number unless you are assured that you are on the correct website and that the page is encrypted. There would be a lock on the right side lower corner which means it is safe. That means that whatever you are typing on the page is encrypted so no one else other than the merchant provider can read it.
A thief could be overhearing your telephone call and once again you could face identity theft. Never give your credit card number over the telephone. The person who was calling or an eavesdropper could steal enough from your information to commit identity theft with utmost ease.
