The Best Steps for Deterring Identity Theft

Today, I observed a wallet turned in by a caring individual to a customer service counter a local retail store. There was no driver's license to help them locate the owner, but the wallet did contain the person's Social Security Card, a few credit cards, and some bank information (including routing and passcodes.) Using the name from the social security card, the store representative was able to find the person in the phone book to reunite her with the wallet.

Alls well that ends well, right?

Not necessarily, the items in the wallet were red flag security risks. It's a good thing a caring consumer turned the wallet in as it was an identity thieves dream!

We all like to think it will not happen to us but, according to the Federal Trade Commission, over 500,000 Americans will fall victim to identity theft each year. Reporting lost or stolen items, waiting for new credit cards and bank information to arrive, fixing credit reports, and staving off phone calls from creditors and other duped parties - each one of these identity theft victims will spend countless hours fixing the damage.

You can, however, minimize your risk and take steps to protect your personal information. There are a few precautions you should take right now to minimize your risk of identity theft, should your possessions fall into the wrong hands:

1) Keep your social security card in a lock box, vault, or another private and secure place. Your social security number is a key to your credit and your indentity. Do not carry it with you. Rather, memorize the number in the event you should need it.

2) The same principle needs to be applied for bank passwords, ATM codes, birth certificates, and other important documentation. It is worth ensuring your privacy to memorize as much as possible.

3) Make photo copies of every ID and Credit Card in your wallet, front and back sides. Keep the copies in a safe place. This way, if you loose your wallet, you will have easy reference to contact companies to cancel and replace the information you are missing. The minutes you save in looking up the information will be very handy in nixing the identity thieves chances of abusing your credit.

4) Limit the number of credit cards you are carrying. If you aren't using a credit card regularly, remove it from your wallet and store in a safe place. If you find you are not using a credit card at all (such as a store card you opened years ago in order to take advantage of a promotion,) or consider canceling your account.

A few simple steps of precaution will really make a big impact on protecting your credit and your identity. Take the time to protect yourself, even if only for piece of mind. You won't regret it.