Identity Theft: An American Epidemic

Identity Theft is a national epidemic. There are people everyday, who's only job is to gather your personal information and steal your identity. If your identity is stolen, it may take years and cost you thousands of dollars to get your finances back in order. Taking a few simple steps, will reduce the chance that you will become a victim.

According to the Federal Trade Commission, there were over 313,982 reports of Identity Theft in 2008. These are only the complaints that were filed with the FTC. The highest rates of Identity Theft were in Arizona, California and Florida. Incredibly, 65% of people that reported Identity Theft to the FTC, did not call their local police and never filed a police report. 47% of Identity Theft cases involved victims between the ages 20 and 39.

There are some very simple steps you can take to keep yourself from becoming a victim. The first is never just throw away credit card bills, utility bills, or any other paperwork that has your personal information. Buying a personal crosscut shredder to destroy this information before it is thrown out is a simple and effective way to control your information.

Store important documents and documents that contain personal information in a locked box in your home. A small fireproof safe is a low cost way to safeguard your information and protects these documents in the event of a fire.

Never give out personal information such as social security number, date of birth or credit card numbers on the phone. You never know who may be asking for this information and how they will use it.

Immediately destroy any pre-approved credit card offers that you receive, that you do not intend to use.

If you have important data stored on Cd's for backup purposes, or on your hard drive, destroy them before you dispose of them. Do not just throw them away. If you intend on selling your old computer when you replace it, or giving it away, either remove the hard drive or use a commercially available hard drive scrubber. If you just delete the information on your hard drive, it may still be possible to recover the information.

When banking or making purchases on line, make sure you have a secure connection. Do not use a laptop or desktop computer with a wireless connection for sensitive transactions. If you do connect to your bank, or are going to make a purchase, check the bottom right hand corner of your web browser. There will be a symbol with a lock. If the lock is not there, or if it is open, don't enter your personal information. Also check the address bar, it should always show https:// if you are on a secure connection. When ordering on line, make sure you check their privacy policy. This should tell you how they store your personal information, and who they will release it to. Only do business with reputable companies.

Order copies of your credit reports from the 3 major credit agencies every year. Under Federal Law, you are entitled to receive 1 copy of your credit report each year from each credit agency. Check your credit report carefully. If there are accounts listed there that you don't know about, immediately contact the creditor and request information on the account. If the account is not yours, immediately advise the creditor and the credit reporting agency. You also want to verify that the credit reporting agency has the proper information on file. If there are addresses on your credit report, inquire as to where they got the address. You may uncover an attempt to steal your identity.

If you find that you are the victim of identity theft, Immediately call your local police. Be sure that the officer takes a report on your case, and be sure to get the report number. Some police departments may be hesitant to take a police report. They are required under Federal Law to take a police report. If your local police department refuses to take a report, then call your county sheriff's office or the state police.

The next step is to report the theft to the credit reporting agency, and to the creditor in question. You will need to provide them with as much information as possible, including who if you know, when, what and where. You also must provide them with the police report number. You will also want your credit reporting agency to file a fraud alert on your credit report. This will require any company that is considering you for credit to contact you directly and confirm your identity.

There are companies that you see advertised on TV and on the web that offer to secure your information, and make it impossible to steal your identity. Some of these companies will even offer to pay all the expenses if your identity is stolen. These companies are a good way to protect your identity, but the same procedures that they use to protect your credit is also available to you. A little bit of work on your part can save you a lot of hassle. Some insurance companies are now offering an Identity Theft policy. They are a low cost way, costing just pennies a day, to protect yourself from the high costs of recovering your identity in case of theft.

Links
www.ftc.gov