Stop Identity Theft: 7 Steps to Help Stop Identity Theft from Happening to You

Identity theft has become more and more prevalent. The General Accounting Office recently issued a report stating that more than 700,000 Americans become identity theft victims each year. Learning ways to stop identity theft, or at least lessening your chances of becoming an identity theft victim, is essential in order to safeguard your personal identity and financial accounts.

In order to stop identity theft from happening to you, you must first understand what identity theft is and how it occurs. Identity theft is stealing someone's personal or financial information to gain access to the person's financial accounts and to commit financial fraud and other crimes. Identity theft occurs in various ways. Identity thieves use tactics such as going through garbage and dumpsters looking for paperwork containing financial information, stealing mail, phishing schemes (fraudulent emails), skimming credit card information, and setting up phoney shopping websites online, to name some of the more common identity theft scams.

There is no way to completely stop identity theft. However there are some important preventative measures you should take to help protect your finances and personal identity. Here are 7 steps you can implement to help stop identity theft from happening to you.

1. Be sure to shred all paperwork and statements that contain financial and personal information, including bank and credit card statements and offers from credit card companies.

2. Secure your mail. Don't leave mail in your mail box for long periods of time. Another thing you may want to consider is renting a post office box to keep your mail secure from identity thieves.

3. Be very cautious about providing your social security number. Your social security number is one of the primary means identity thieves can use to take on your identity and gain access to your financial accounts and credit.

4. Keep your credit and debit cards in a safe place and be very cautious about letting your cards out of sight when making purchases.

5. Request that your name be removed from mailing lists for things like credit card offers and other solicitations and make sure you register for the national Do Not Call list.

6. Be very cautious about giving out any sensitive financial or personal information such as your social security number or Driver's License number, particularly over the phone or internet.

7. Check your bank statements and credit card statements and also your credit report on a regular report to look for any unauthorized transactions or errors. You can request a free credit report once a year from freeannualcreditreport.com

Taking the previous seven steps may not completely stop identity theft from happening to you, but they will certainly increase your odds of keeping your personal identity and financial information safe from identity thieves.