Ways College Students Can Avoid Identity Theft Usually Require Common Sense
College can be a confusing and exceptionally busy time in a person's life and with all of the forms and loan documents they have to fill out for school loans, they are more susceptible to having their identity stolen. However, some of the ways college students can avoid identity theft are just common sense approaches to their personal information and an understanding that their identity is a valuable commodity.
Students should never trust their personal information with someone they do not know or that has a reason to have their information. One of the ways college students can avoid identity theft is when they apply for credit cards on campus. Many banks and other financial organizations hand out applications, sometimes with incentives to fill them out and along with a free umbrella just for filling out the card application the person handing them out will also make it more convenient by sending them in for you.
Many take them at their word, but consider the application has everything that is needed for a person to steal the identity and instead of being turned into a credit card company, the information may be sold to someone looking for identity information. One of the ways college students can avoid identity theft is to mail the application into the credit card company on their own. Any company that claims they have to turn it in, probably does not deserve the business in the first place.
Turn Off Computers When Not In Dorm Room
Many college students rush out of their room to class or other places, often leaving their computers turned on. With many also paying their bills and doing their banking online, blocking access to personal information stored on the computer is another of the ways college students can avoid identity theft.
Friendships forged in college often last a lifetime and trust is usually given quickly as opposed to being earned. Sharing personal information only with people you know, better if only the ones to whom are related is one of the better ways college students can avoid identity theft. Too many times they use each other's identification when out and about and only takes seconds to make a copy of an ID to made into a permanent one later. But for the most part, the best ways college students can avoid identity theft is to keep all of their information as private as they would if they knew it was the combination to their personal safe containing a lifetime of credit resources.
