Identity Theft

Identity Theft - the 10 Best Tips You Can Use Right Now!

We've all heard horror stories about fraud that's committed by someone stealing a name, address, Social Security number or credit card. Here are 10 suggestions you can take to help protect yourself.

1. The next time you order checks, have only your initials (instead of your first name) and last name put on them. If someone takes your checkbook, they won't know if you sign your checks with just your initials or your first name, but your bank will know how you sign your checks.

2. When you are writing checks to pay your credit card accounts, DO NOT put the complete account number on the "For" line. Instead, just put the last four numbers. The credit card company knows the rest of the number, and anyone who might be handling your check as it passes through all the check processing channels won't have access to it.

3. Put your work phone number on your checks instead of your home phone. If you have a PO Box, use that instead of your home address. If you don't have a PO Box, use your work address.

4. Never have your Social Security number or driver's license number printed on your checks. You can add it if it is necessary. But if you have it printed, anyone can get it.

5. Place the contents of your wallet on a photocopy machine. Do both sides of each license, credit card, etc. You will know what you had in your wallet and all of the account numbers and phone numbers to call and cancel. Keep the photocopy in a safe place. It's also a good idea to carry a photocopy of your passport when traveling abroad.

6. For couples or friends traveling together - each of you should carry a different, unique credit card. For example, one of you could carry a Visa card and one of you a Discover card. Don't both carry the same credit card! That way if one of you has their credit card stolen, you still have a valid credit card to use and aren't completely without funds while you are traveling.

7. Another tip for couples or friends traveling together - each of you should carry the other person's photo copies of their credit cards and passport. If someone steals your wallet or purse, your traveling companion still has copies of all your information.

8. When you're reading email, don't click on any of the links listed in the email message. No matter how tempting the offer is! This is a way 'phishers' use to direct you to their website and capture your credit card and personal information.

9. We are told to cancel our credit cards immediately. But the key is having the toll free numbers and your card numbers handy so you know whom to call. Keep these numbers where you can find them separate from your credit cards.

10. File a police report immediately in the city where your credit cards, purse or wallet were stolen. This proves to credit providers you were diligent, and this is a first step toward an investigation.

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Identity Theft - Is The Internet A Major Factor?

 Identity theft also known as ID theft, identity fraud and ID fraud describes a type of fraud where a criminal adopts someone elses identity in order to profit illegally. It is one of the fastest growing forms of fraud in many developed countries.

In the UK identity theft is increasing at the rate of 500ach year and, according to Which Magazine, 25f the population have either suffered from identity theft or know someone who has.

In the USA, a report issued by the Better Business Bureau revealed that, in 2004, over 9 million Americans became victims of identity theft with the total sum defrauded being $52.6 billion.

With figures like this, its no surprise that there is a certain amount of concern regarding computer and internet security. After all, the internet is basically a mechanism for exchanging information and the possibility that some of the information exchanged may be more than intended is never far from many internet users minds.

Its easy to imagine criminal masterminds worldwide using the internet to hack into computers in order to gain access to information with which to advance their devilishly cunning schemes. However, as revealed in the report, the facts of the matter are a little more down to earth and the internet, far from making you more at risk to identity theft, can help to significantly cut your losses if you do fall victim this form of fraud.

According to the Better Business Bureaus research the main methods by which criminals gain access to information used for identity theft fraud are as below:

Lost or stolen wallet, chequebook or credit card. 28.8
Accessed as part of a transaction. 12.9

Accessed by friend, acquaintance or relative. 11.4
Don't know, refused, no answer. 11.1
Information accessed by corrupt employee. 8.7
Stolen paper mail or fraudulent change of address. 8.0
Obtained some other way. 7.4
Computer spyware. 5.2
Information stolen from garbage. 2.6
Computer viruses and/or hackers. 2.2
Emails sent by criminals posing as legitimate business. 1.7
* 12.9ue to transactions 10.4ffline transactions, 2.5nline transactions.

In total, when the instances where information was accessed during transactions are subdivided into online and offline transactions, only 11.6f the information used to carry out identity theft fraud was obtained from computers.

Of this more than half was obtained by the use of spyware, viruses or hacking the risk of which can be greatly reduced by installing the appropriate protection software and ensuring that this is kept up to date.

Not only did the survey reveal that the internet was not a major source of illegally obtained personal information, but it was also found that those fraud victims who checked their financial records using the internet, ATM machines or other electronic methods suffered financial losses which were, on average, 8 times lower than those of victims who used traditional paper statements to monitor their accounts. This very significant reduction was attributed to the rapid discovery of the fraud due to real time monitoring.

Of course, thats not to say that you shouldnt exercise caution when using the internet or take care to protect the personal information which you may have stored on your PC. However, as long as you install suitable virus, firewall and spyware protection, and keep this continually updated the internet can should be more of a help than a hindrance when it comes to avoiding identity fraud.

Hamish Hayward - Don't become a victim of ID theft. Get the facts. http://www.id-theft-info.com