1. Monitor your credit

While it’s possible for someone to steal your information by taking your purse or wallet or burglarizing your home, many incursions that lead to identity theft occur without the victim knowing.

To make sure nobody has opened up new accounts under your name, at least once a year check each of your credit reports.  You can get your FREE once a year Experian, Transunion and Equifax credit reports at AnnualCreditReport.com.

If you notice fraudulent activity, dispute it with the lender and the bureau.  Also, consider freezing your credit reports and request a fraud alert be added to them if you’ve been victimized.

With a credit freeze, no one can view your credit reports, including lenders.  So if a thief steals your Social Security number and plans to open credit accounts in your name, they’ll be denied.  Keep in mind, though, you’ll also be denied for legitimate applications unless you lift the freeze.  If you place a fraud alert, creditors are encouraged to contact you and verify your information (and that you applied for the loan or credit card in question) before approving the application.

2. Keep Your Personal Documents Safe  

Online identity theft is more common than it used to be, but it’s still possible for criminals to gain access to your credit card numbers, bank account information and other sensitive information on paper.  Here are ways to safeguard your documents:

• Request electronic statements:  Doing this eliminates the paper trail financial account statements create.  Mail fraud is considered old school, but it’s still alive and well.  It’s best to have financial statements delivered to your secure email inbox rather than your mailbox.

• Keep your mail safe:  If you do receive paper documents with personal information, don’t leave mail in your mailbox as identity thieves may steel from mailboxes or trash to get your information.   In general, it’s also helpful to avoid leaving a paper trail of any ATM, credit card or retail receipts behind.  Identity thieves can use receipts to help piece together your personal data, so hold on to receipts and shred them when you get home.

• Buy a shredder:  If you plan to throw out financial and other sensitive documents, shred them first.  This can take a little extra time but adds a layer of protection against dumpster-divers.

• Lock it up:  There are some documents—your Social Security number, recent tax returns, birth certificate and more—you can’t get rid of. Consider getting a safe deposit box at a local bank branch or purchasing a lock box or a small safe so you can store them at your house.

3. Secure Your Online Data  

Stopping mail fraud is pretty straightforward, but protecting yourself online can be a lot trickier because criminals employ many tactics to steal your identity.  Here’s what you need to do:

• Be cautious with links:  Phishing scams involve a thief using email to trick you into giving them personal information.  These messages often look like they are coming from a reputable business.  If something appears off about an email that is asking you to click a link to an offer or action, don’t click.  Instead, put your cursor over the link and check the destination URL.  Additionally, these emails can include attachments that, if opened, install information-gathering software.

• Monitor your online accounts:  Staying up to date on changes to your financial accounts can be helpful in catching fraud as soon as it happens.  Pay attention to any alert emails you may get from financial institutions.

• Be careful with public WiFi:   Public WiFi can be a convenient way to get access to the internet.   However, whether you are at a coffee shop or the airport, be careful about what you do while you are online.   Hackers and others can set up their own free WiFi networks and use them to scrape your data.   Even legitimate WiFi networks can be hacked, allowing the thief to “eavesdrop” on your connection and steal data.   Make sure the network you are connected to is legitimate and can be trusted, and you can also use a virtual private network, or VPN, to add an extra layer of security and prevent eavesdropping.

• Watch out for unsecured websites:  Before you enter payment or other personal information into a website, check to ensure it’s secure and trustworthy.  If the URL starts with “HTTP” instead of “HTTPS,” it’s not secure and hackers can eavesdrop and steal the information you share.  Even if the site does have a secure connection, it can still be a front for a scam.  If you do not recognize the name of the company, be diligent to ensure it’s legitimate and trustworthy.

4. Create Strong Passwords  

Society is so integrated with technology that it is easy to have scores of online accounts.  As a result, it can be tempting to create an easy-to-remember password and use it everywhere.

Unfortunately, scammers have gotten good at guessing passwords using publicly available information and social networking—for example, asking you about your pets, children, other family members and more.  Once they have your password for one website, they will have it for all the other sites you use it on.

To help minimize the damage, create a unique, strong password for every online account.  The strongest passwords are long, random strings of letters, numbers and symbols, and it would be impossible to memorize each one.  For that reason, you could use a password manager.

If a website or app offers it, set up two-factor authentication.  This will require you to provide a second piece of information to verify your identity. It may require you to use an authentication app with a unique number that changes every 30 seconds or have a code sent to your email or phone.  A lot of business use authentication these days.

Using this process takes a little more time every time you log in or change account details, but it provides valuable protection against people who want to do you harm.

 Check out blog “Protecting your information – Part 2″.

Photo by Markus Winkler: https://www.pexels.com/photo/the-word-fraud-spelled-out-in-scrabble-letters-19835552/