Identity Theft

In the summer of 2003, 7 million people were victims of identity theft. That breaks down to 19178 per day, 799 per hour and 13.3 per minute. Being alert cautious is imperative to the safety of your personal information. Preventing identity theft isn’t easy. But defending yourself from common forms is well worth the prize:
-Card swiping
-Mail stealing
-Trash digging
-Picking up wallets
-Spyware and retrieval of personal information.

Knowing how to prevent identity theft can mean the difference between losing your hard earned fortune and saving them. Here are some of the ways you can fortify your privacy:
-Shred your credit cards and credit card receipts.
-Use processed checked junk mail and other sets of documents as they make contain private information.
-Also minimize the use of mail to send or receive financial documents or checks. 8% of identity theft fraud result from stolen mail. Use reliable software to detect and removing spyware that may send personal information to commercial sites.
-Suspicious sites may try to scam you of your money or personal information. Always buy from reparable online sites.
When swiping your credit card check make sure there are no additional devices that are added, that may read your credit card number.

Identity Theft

-Always use reliable and reparable ATM.
-A lost wallet is the easiest way, an identity thief can steal your personal information. Always keep track of your wallet. And if it is lost quickly suspend your lost credit card out. Never carry around your social security card, unless you really have to.
70% of identity theft is detected by the victim and those who check their bank accounts via electronic mean who is 1/8th less than those who rely on paper statements.

Failing to follow these steps of prevention puts you at high risk for being framed for criminal activity, being blackmailed, being charged for expensive items. In the US over 9.3 million individuals are victims of identity theft yearly. If you fall victim to identity theft do the following.
1. Place a fraud alert on your credit report and review your credit report.
2. Close the account that you know or believe has been tampered.
3. File or report with the local police or the police in the community of the theft.
4. File a complaint with federal trade commission.
5. Stay alert once the problem is resolved
6. Change all your passwords and pin numbers.