Check out the news article: “New identity theft scam is targeting jurors” by Bob Audette of the Reformer news site. The paragraph that caught my eye is:

“Police said an individual called the man, saying the call was being made on behalf of Judge John P. Wesley in Brattleboro District Court. The individual stated that the man had recently missed his court-ordered jury duty, and therefore the court had issued a warrant for his arrest with fines attached. The caller asked the man to verify his address, telephone number and Social Security number. “

The article goes on to say that the gentleman was careful and not compromised, but how many were compromised? Who was calling these people requesting this information? The police have not caught this perpetrator and according to identity theft statistics they won’t catch them. So if the authorities can’t catch the criminals and the crime is growing by leap and bounds, what can you do?

There are infinite ways to have your identity stolen. It seems that everyday a business is hacked and thousand or millions of personal records are stolen. You could be fooled by a tricky e-mail or phone call. Someone could steal your mail. This happen to me years ago and my credit card was charged for a pre-paid phone card. I luckily caught the charge in time to have it removed from my account, but it was my wakeup call to protect my credit. Later I learned that my credit was just a small part of the identity theft problem. Credit card fraud is only 28% of the problem. bank fraud is 18%, phone and utility fraud is 19%, employment related fraud is 13%, Government documents & benefits fraud is 8% and medical fraud is growing.

How can someone else using your identity create a criminal record for you? Imagine a drug dealer gets your name, address and say your drivers license number. They have a fake ID made with their picture, but your information. They are caught for their crime, but it is your information that is put into the system. They don’t show for they’re court date and a warrant is issued for your arrest. Yes, you will be cleared eventually, but only after being cuffed and processed. Do you really want to deal with that? Wouldn’t it be much easier to get a notice that you showed up in a criminal database somewhere and could preemptively solve the problem? Would you know how to solve the problem? How much of your time and trouble would go into solving a false record against your identity? If it were possible to make a 10 minute phone call and fax some documents to an expert in this sort of thing and have them clear the problem up for you, would you be interested in that service? Would you be more interested if that service cost only pennies a day? If so, then please continue reading.

It is almost impossible to fully protect your identity. Most of the data you need to protect is not in your control. Did you hear the recent new story about the notebook computer stolen from an employee of Veteran Affairs? Millions of identities were compromised in an instant. If you were in that database what would you have done the minute you heard about the theft? I knew exactly what to do. I made one five minute phone call to Identity Theft Shield and then let them handle the rest.

There are multiple products on the market that protect your credit. There is identity theft insurance available too, but that only give you money and instructions to solve the problem yourself. Identity Theft Shield is a complete solution. This is not identity theft insurance where they provide you funds and instructions to fix the problem yourself. Identity Theft Shield actually does the work and fixes the problem for you!

Odds are you will be a victim of Identity Theft. It’s almost impossible to avoid being touched by it. I sleep better at night knowing I have protection. Wouldn’t you like too? Please do your research and look into every form of Identity Theft protection that is available. Ask the hard questions from the companies providing this service. Ask “if my identity is compromised, what exactly does your company do for me?” 99% of the businesses offering Identity Theft protection are only focused on your credit or are going to “guide you” through the process of fixing the problem and in most cases they don’t cost any less then Identity Theft Shield.



By: Frank Brammer

About the Author:

Website content

Protecting Your Identity

Identity theft can be one of the most difficult situations to deal with. Often, the ill effects of becoming a victim can last for years. Some of the common problems victims face are:

• Money is fraudulently withdrawn from checking or saving accounts

• Mysterious charges appear on credit card bills

• Credit score is damaged

• Experience difficulty opening new banking or credit card accounts

• Calls from collection agencies

• Ending up with a criminal record in error

Identity theft has been called one of the fastest growing white-collar crimes in America. According to Javelin Strategy & Research, Inc., in 2005, over 9 million people were directly affected with total losses exceeding $56 billion. But it doesn’t stop there. It actually affects everyone due to rising costs from merchants and banks to offset their losses. With identity theft growing to an all time high, it is important to do everything you can to keep yourself from becoming a victim.

Ways To Prevent Identify Theft

While there is no way to 100 percent guarantee that you will not become a victim of identity theft, there are some steps you can take to decrease the likelihood that it will happen to you. Follow the steps below to reduce your chances of becoming a victim:

1. Protect your social security number. The number one way criminals are able to establish credit in your name is by having your social security number. Here are some suggestions to better protect your social security number:

• Do not give your full social security number over the phone (most reputable companies will request only the last 4 digits).

• Do not carry your social security card in your wallet.

• Secure or shred any documents that contain your social security number .

2. Protect your incoming and outgoing mail. Many criminals seek out credit card pre-approval offers by sniffing through their victims’ mailboxes. Here are some suggestions to better protect your mail:

• Put all outgoing mail in an actual post office mailbox instead of your home mailbox.

• If you do leave mail in your home mailbox, avoid putting the flag up.

• Shred any pre-approved credit offer letters.

• Keep trash cans in a location that is viewable by your neighbors.

3. Protect your computer. Do not allow hackers easy access to your personal data on your computer. Here are some suggestions to better protect your email:

• Make sure you have up-to-date anti-virus software loaded on your computer.

• Make sure you have up-to-date anti-spyware software loaded on your computer.

• Avoid clicking on links or opening emails from unknown senders.

• Never send sensitive information regarding your personal identity within an email.

Ways To Detect Identity Theft

The sooner you discover an incident of abuse, the better. By doing so, you reduce the amount of money that may be stolen and it becomes less difficult to repair the damage. Here are some simple steps to you can take to detect identity theft early:

• Subscribe to an online credit monitoring service. These services send you email alerts when changes occur within your credit file. The service can be very inexpensive, starting as low as $6.95 a month or lower. Most services include some form of 3-in-1 credit monitoring package.

• Read your bank and credit card statements every month to ensure they do not contain any unauthorized charges. If you do not recognize a charge, call your bank or credit card company immediately.

• View your full credit report 2 times a year minimally. Be sure to compare each one to the previous report.

Your Liability

Federal law limits your liability to $50 if someone steals and uses your credit card. (Many credit card companies have a benefit in place that actually waves the $50 fee in case you do become a victim.) However, with ATM cards, you could lose up to $500 or more if you do not report any unauthorized transaction to your bank within two business days. If you do report the unauthorized charges within 2 days, you could limit your liability to only $50.

What To Do if You Become A Victim

No matter how many preventative steps you take to avoid becoming a victim of identity theft, the unthinkable can still occur. In this situation, follow the list of steps below to quickly repair any credit damage. The faster you do this, the better.

1. Contact at least one of the three credit reporting agencies and request a fraud alert be placed on your credit report. Once the fraud alert is placed on your account, it will automatically be placed on the other two. This fraud alert is good for 90 days and can be extended up to 7 years if a report is filed with the police department. The fraud alert notifies credit granters to confirm requests for credit with you before granting them. At this time you will also be eligible for a free copy of your credit report from each credit bureau.

2. Report the identity theft to your police of sheriff’s department and obtain a copy of the police report. Creditors will require the police report when you request to remove negative information from your file.

3. Report the identify theft to the Federal Trade Commission. You will need to complete the Identity Theft Affidavit form. Many of the creditors affected by the theft will need this.

4. Close any account affected by the identity theft.

5. Notify all of your credit card companies and let them know you were a victim of identity theft.

6. Close any unfamiliar accounts.

7. Contact the Social Security Administration if you suspect your Social Security number was compromised or is being used by someone else.

8. Keep copies of all correspondence to credit bureaus, creditors, Federal Trade Commission, Social Security Administration, and others pertaining to the identify theft.

Fraud Contacts

If you are a victim of identity theft, the following list will get you started down the path of clearing your good name. They key is to act quickly.

Credit Bureaus

Equifax

Fraud Reporting Line: 1-800-525-6285

P.O. Box 740241

Atlanta, GA 30374-0241

www.equifax.com

Experian

Fraud Reporting Line: 1-800-EXPERIAN (397-3742)

P.O. Box 9532

Allen, Texas 75013

www.experian.com

TransUnion

Fraud Reporting Line: 1-800-680-7289

Fraud Victim Assistance Division

P.O. Box 6790

Fullerton, CA 92834-6790

www.transunion.com

Federal Trade Commission

1-877-IDTHEFT (438-4338)

Identity Theft Clearinghouse

Federal Trade Commission

600 Pennsylvania Avenue, NW

Washington, DC 20580

To file the FTC Report online, visit www.consumer.gov/idtheft.

Social Security Administration

To report a stolen or misused Social Security number, call

1-800-269-0271

Visit: www.ssa.gov.



By: Kenneth Kelly

About the Author:

Website content

You need to make identity theft protection a top priority. The reality is that one of the most common types of crime today is identity theft. Therefore, it is very important that you really are proactive and effective when it comes to identity theft protection.

If you are like most people in the world today you spend a great deal of time online transacting business. You shop online, you obtain services online. In the end, the Internet and World Wide Web is a wonderful resource when it comes to shopping, engaging services and for many other activities. Identity thieves completely understand this reality – they understand that the Net is a prime hunting ground when it comes to obtaining financial and personal information from targeted victims.

Using the Internet to shop, indeed using the Internet at all, actually does open you up to rather significant exposure to identity theft. Therefore, you need to make certain that you utilize tools and resources that are designed to provide you with optimum identity theft protection.

Chief amongst the steps that you will want to take when it comes to identity theft protection online is to obtain reliable, reputable and effective anti-spyware software. The fact is that there likely are hundreds of thousands of people lurking on the Net trying to steal your identity and the identity of people just like you through the use of spyware.

Spyware is an aptly named application that allows a person the ability to actually “sneak” into your computer through the Net to collect information about you. A form of spyware is used by reputable online merchants to obtain some basic information about your Internet use and habits. However, those intent on identity theft use more insidious software that actually can effectively collect personal and financial information from you and your computer, including passwords to your accounts.

You need to understand that there are spyware applications that can go so far as to monitor and track your actual keystrokes – a means of collecting your password with relative ease. Spyware applications are very invasive and can be very effective tools when it comes to stealing your personal and financial information.

Understanding these key factors associated with spyware, you definitely want to make sure you have the best possible anti-spyware protection on your computer. Typically, an anti-virus program today will include anti-spyware protection as well. In the end, this type of protection is crucial as part of your overall identity theft protection efforts.



By: Bernard Pragides

About the Author:

Content for WordPress

 

The term “bot” is for robot.  Not the kind of robot you have seen in movies and television shows (does anyone remember ‘Lost In Space’?) or the one at the car assembly plant.  Bots are now one of the most complex types of crimeware on the Internet and therefore a significant tool for identity theft.  Bots are a lot like worms and Trojans, except that they can perform a wide variety of automated tasks on behalf of their master who is usually located far, far away.

Bots can perform nasty tasks like sending spam that can blast a Web site right off the internet when the spam is part of a coordinated “denial of service” attack.  A bot infected computer does the work for its master and that machine is known as a “zombie”.  Bots can enter your computer in several ways.  They are able to search the internet for vulnerable and un-protected (Nawaz, please link to Symantec) computers and inject the infection.  After infecting the machine they immediately report back to their master.

The bots objective now is to stay hidden until their master awakens them and assigns a task.  Bots are so silent that the victim does not know of their existence until the Internet Service Provider notifies you that your computer has been spamming other Internet users.  There are times when the bot will actually clean up an infected computer so that it will not get bumped off the victims machine by another identity thieves bot.  Bots can also infect by being downloaded by a Trojan, installed by a malicious Web site or emailed directly to you from an existing infected computer.

Bots never work alone because they are part of a network of infected computers called a “botnet”.  Botnets are created by identity thieves/attackers who repeatedly infect victim’s computers using one or several of the techniques already mentioned.  Each zombie machine is controlled by a master computer called the command and control server.  The cybercriminals/identity thieves manage their botnets and instruct their army of zombie computers from their command and control centre.  Typically, a botnet is composed of a large number of victimized machines that stretch across the entire planet, from China to the U.S.  Some botnets have a few hundred or few thousand computers; others have tens and even hundreds of thousands of zombies at their command.

 

Do you want to learn about Identity Theft Prevention & Identity Theft Protection. Stop Identity Theft with LifeLock. LifeLock can guarantee identity theft never happens to you. To see how lifelock identity theft protection works



By: Randy Vezina

About the Author:

Website content

Identity theft has become a multi-million dollar crime that affects many people throughout the world. While most people understand how serious this can be, many underestimate how common this problem is and dont realize that they could easily be one of the millions affected. As with all things in life, there is no guarantee that something bad cant happen to a good person but protecting yourself means that you must understand why you and your family need protection, how programs such as LifeLock work, and whether you really need to utilize a program like this at all. This article will explore the issue of identity theft and how the LifeLock program may help to protect you.

While identity theft continues to grow as a crime of choice for many criminals, the exact statistics are hard to pinpoint due to the differing methods that identity thiefs use. 2004 statistics stated that 9.3 million Americans suffered some sort of identity theft. Many identity theft criminals will abuse your personal information until your credit, good name, and social standings are completely destroyed. Even though federal law protects people from having to pay off bills due to fraud, the burden of proof it is up to the victim and clearing everything up after becoming a victim of identity theft can take, on average, 600 hours spread out over several years. To give you an idea of how this crime has escalated, this average of 600 hours is up from 170 hours from only a few years ago. If you become a victim of identity theft, your ability to purchase a home or car, get bank accounts and credit cards, and sometimes your ability to obtain gainful employment can be greatly hindered. While going through the process of restoring their life, an identity theft victim can also expect to spend around $1,500 in out of pocket expenses, not to mention the wage losses they may incur if they are required to take time off from work.

Anti-identity theft programs, such as LifeLock, specialize in preventing identity theft. LifeLock is said to stop junk mail, pre-approved credit card offers, and takes a proactive stance versus the normal reactive method that they claim most companies use. LifeLock states that its program will contact you before your credit is tarnished while most other programs only contact you after the fact. The LifeLock program takes steps so that your credit and personal identification is continuously monitored meaning that you are notified whenever there is any suspicious activity with your credit, social security number, and bank accounts. One problem with this method is that you, as well as thieves, may find it difficult to secure credit but LifeLock states that this is necessary to protect your credit and that they will be available to speak with any creditor you are having difficulties with.

With all these claims, you may be wondering how the LifeLock anti-identity theft program works. LifeLock states that it will contact the four major credit bureaus and submit a 90 day fraud alert in your name which means that nobody, including you, will be able to obtain credit without sending an alert. When someone sets up a fraud alert with a credit reporting agency, the alert will automatically expire in 90 days but LifeLock states that it will automatically renew the alert before it expires and you will be continuously protected. LifeLock also provides you a copy of your credit report four times a year and monitors for any new bank accounts set up in your name. If you fully understand the dangers of identity theft and realize that you could be a victim, you may well be wondering how to join such a program and if you really need to.

Joining LifeLock requires no contract so you may cancel at any time if you are not completely satisfied. This program appears to be relatively inexpensive at $10 a month or $100 per year for adults and $25 a year for your children. You may be wondering why you would want to register your children with LifeLock but the fact of the matter is that children under 18 are great targets for identity theft thieves because nearly any child living in the United States has a social security number that an identity theft thief can steal and any suspicious activity will normally not be caught until the child reaches the age of 18. You may be wondering if a program such as LifeLock is really necessary or if you can take steps on your own to protect yourself. The truth is that you can do all of the things that LifeLock does on your own for free but doing so will eat up your resources, time, and leave you wondering if the steps you took will be effective. LifeLock claims that it offers a service of convenience, eliminating the hassle of you dealing with the details, and eliminating the stress of not knowing if you are truly safe. LifeLock also offers the advantage of acting in your behalf or hiring someone to represent you if the program fails and you actually do become a victim of identity theft.

If the thought of having your identity stolen concerns you, as it should, then you should take steps to reduce the probability of it happening. Whether you decide to take care of this on your own or obtain the service of an anti-identity theft program is up to you but reviews indicate that the LifeLock program does work and has helped a lot of people. Whatever you decide, please take some type of action to protect yourself because identity theft continues to grow and is indeed a huge problem that may very well affect you sometime in the future.

By: Rick Churchill

About the Author:

Website content

Identity theft starts with the misuse of your personally identifying information such as your name and Social Security number, credit card numbers, or other financial account information. For professional identity stealers, this information is as good as gold mine.

Professional and Skilled identity Stealers may use a variety of methods to get hold of your information, including:

 

1. Skimming: These professional steal credit/debit card numbers by using a special storage device when processing your card. Do you let the waiter/waitress walk away from your table with credit card in hand? How about the gas station attendant? These are just some of the ways identity thieves can skim your card(s)

2. Dumpster Driving: In this method the thieves search for various bills and pieces for paper on which one might have scribbled some personal information. This can happen at work from the little garbage can beside your desk. Do you put your garbage out at night or even in the morning? If so, identity thieves will steal the entire garbage bag and take it to a safe location where they can pick it apart.

3. Phishing/Malware: These ID stealers are hard at work thinking up creative ways to get malware software on your computer using appealing Web sites, desirable downloads, and compelling stories, these criminals try to lure consumers to links that will download malware, especially on computers that don’t use adequate security software. Then, they use the malware to steal personal information, send spam, and commit fraud. They also can pretend to be financial institutions or companies and send spam or pop-up messages to get you to reveal your personal information.

4. Changing Your Address: These criminals divert your billing statements to another location by completing a change of address form. Where they can collect your personal information form those bills.

5. Old-Fashioned Stealing: It is the most common forms of identity theft where in the these stealers steal billing related mails and credit card statements from their victims. They also resort to stealing their wallets and purses to get credit card details and other such information. They may also resort to bribing and getting such vital details from people who have access to it.

6. Pre-texting: They move step ahead in their job, by using false pretenses to obtain your personal information from financial institutions, telephone companies, and other sources. Pretexing is the practice of getting your personal information under false pretenses. Pretexers sell your information to people who may use it to get credit in your name, to steal your assets, or to investigate or sue you. Pretexing is against the law. Pretexers use a variety of tactics to steal your personal information and commit identity theft. For example, a pretexter may call, claim he’s from a research firm, and ask for your name, address, birth date, and social security number. When the pretexter has the information he wants, he uses it to call your financial institution. He pretends to be you or someone with authorized access to your account. He might claim he has forgotten his check book and needs information about his account. In this way, the pretexter may be able to obtain other personal information about you such as your bank and credit account numbers, information in your credit report, and the existence and size of your savings and investment portfolios. Keep in mind that some information about you may be a matter of public record, such as whether you own a home, pay your real estate taxes, or have ever filed for bankruptcy. It is not pretexing for an identity thief to collect this kind of information.

Do you want to learn about Identity Theft Prevention & Identity Theft Protection. Stop Identity Theft with LifeLock. LifeLock can guarantee identity theft never happens to you. To see how lifelock identity theft protection works



By: Randy Vezina

About the Author:

Create a video blog…instantly.

There is a lot of advise on how to avoid identity theft. Shred your mail. Don’t give personal or private information over the phone. Check the mail every day and stop mail delivery when out of town. Keep all documents safe and secure. Do this, do that, watch out, jump over this bar, duck under this bar, snake through this hoop and cross fingers and prey like heck. These are good procedures to follow. They just won’t help when the government leaves millions of records unsecured, or AOL releases millions of personal searches, or a business is hacked and it’s databases are compromised. Go to Google News and do a search on “identity theft”. Read the stories. There are hundreds, thousands and sometime millions of identities compromised every day. It is not a matter of if, it’s a matter of when virtually every personal identity will be compromised.

There are three primary steps everyone should take in protecting their identity.

Number one is monitor your credit. Identity theft almost always begins with your credit. It is where you are most likely going to be targeted by criminal activity. It is the easiest way to compromise an identity too.

Number two is 24×7 access to legal counsel. Identity theft and the laws and government protections are complicated. If you are compromised you will need legal assistance in every state where your identity was fraudulently used. Also, who do victims call in the middle of the night when they’ve been arrested on a warrant for a crime they didn’t commit? The brother-in-law or best friend that is an attorney can help you with the occasional speeding ticket, but would be useless if your identity were stolen. Seriously, just ask them yourself. With the right plan and company, this is a very affordable service for all people. What is critical is that you get more then just monitoring and absolutely do not waist money on identity theft insurance. More on this later.

Three, you need identity restoration services. Just read the stories on the net about how lives have been ruined by identity theft. Once an identity is stolen it could take the average individual year, even a lifetime to restore their own good name. It would mean hundreds of hours stolen from the victim too. Hours stolen from work and the family. Having a profession service that specializes in identity restoration is imperative. The best companies can restore and identity in as little as a few months, and most of this time is caused by the bureaucracies they deal with. Bureaucracies that you would have to deal with if they weren’t.

Identity theft insurance is practically worthless. Most of these policies give money to the victim so they can fix the problems themselves. Hopefully, it’s already painfully clear that an individual can’t fix this problem on their own. Identity protection and restoration needs to be handled by professionals. Please don’t wait to get covered.

One great solution to identity theft protection is Identity Theft Shield from Kroll Background America and Pre-Paid Legal Services.



By: Frank Brammer

About the Author:

Content for WordPress

We have written this article for all the Teenagers, and your moms and dads. 

 

 

Millions upon millions of teenagers are using the Social Networking Sites to chat with friends and meet new friends.  The majority of people online are probably ok, but the law of averages demands that some are not.  Some people are, quite frankly, stalkers and identity thieves.  Those of you looking for a relationship may be the most vulnerable for a stalker.  The identity thief and the person who wants to do you physical harm intentionally hunts for people who are open, trusting and looking for a relationship.  They will put the time and effort into gaining your trust and finding out everything about your identity.  Protect your identity.  You must think before posting something on your blog. 

 

 

If you post photo’s that show adult content and text about engaging in mature conduct you may very well be inviting people who want to harm you and identity thieves.  Please be discreet and use good judgment.  If you wouldn’t want your mom or dad to see it, then don’t post it.  Never make your full name public and even your first name is may be a mistake.  Instead, you could use a nickname.  By doing this, no one will know who you really are, unless you want them to.  Identity thieves are also online when you are, looking for those who post their address, phone number, driver license number, Social Security number, student ID number, and date of birth and the town you live in. 

 

 

The identity thieves have the knowledge and skill to figure out a Social Security number when they have your year of birth and town you were born in.  It would be fine to post the year you were born or your age, but when the thief or stalker combines this info with where you were born, they have the ability to figure out your SSN.

 

When meeting new people online you must never give your personal information to anybody.  Just know that 15% of all identity theft is committed by a family member or real good friend who the victim thought they could trust.  As far as I can tell, most teenagers join the social sites so they can meet someone new.  Most of the time the new people you meet, are fun and decent.  But the problem is that the identity thieves and stalkers have joined the same site as you and they are hunting. 

 

 If you do decide to meet someone in person, meet them somewhere public, like a mall or a restaurant with good parking and lots of lighting.  A coffee shop is a good place to meet.  Why not ask one your friends to go with you so you’re not alone?  Protect your identity and don’t tell the new person where you live and meet somewhere that is at least ten miles from your home.  When it is time to leave, walk to your car by yourself because they may write down your license number or follow you home when they see the kind of car you drive.  Don’t go to their house until you really know them and when meeting someone new let your parents know where you are going and when you’re coming home. 

 

Don’t worry about hurting anybody’s feelings if you don’t want to meet, just politely tell them your not interested and remember that these identity thieves and stalkers are quite good at their trade and they know how to sound sincere.  If you are having a party please be careful about inviting new people.  Your new friend may be ok but he may bring friends who are creeps and they are coming over only to steal items or look around the house for items and entry points so they can break in later.  Always meet new people somewhere other than your place and trust your inner feelings (gut).



By: Randy Vezina

About the Author:

Website content

Four Reasons to Use Privacy SoftwareUnless you are a spammer, hacker, terrorist, or other such criminal, you might not think you need privacy software. You might feel that deep cleaning your computer only hints that you have something to hide, and it could even make you feel guilty. There are, however, many reasons you need privacy software. Privacy software will help you regain system space, protect you from identity theft, guard your passwords and protect your right to privacy.Regain system space – Cookies, “deleted” files and folders, pop-up files, and hundreds of other useless-but-still-there items add up exponentially. As this pile of undeleted information grows, your computer slows down and, at its worst, crashes.Protect from ID theft – Hackers can find massive amounts of personal information on your computer. Most deletions do not completely remove information from your computer. What you thought was deleted can be easily found by an experienced hacker. Emails or documents relaying sensitive information can fall into the wrong hands, opening you up to credit card, bank account, or identity theft.Protect passwords – Web browsers often save passwords you have typed. Online criminals can find and use these passwords to enter your personal email, bank, or credit card accounts.Protect your Rights – Despite what other people may want you to think, privacy is a basic human right. Everyone needs to have the ability to hold their own opinion, regardless of whether or not this opinion runs contrary to the government. By protecting your privacy with privacy software, you are protecting your right to free speech and opinion.Top 3 Internet Privacy Software Programs CyberScrubProtecting your privacy isn’t about staying out of trouble with the law, it’s about maintaining your privacy to protect yourself from people who wish to harm you.

By: Richard Seng

About the Author:

Create a video blog…instantly.

There is so much that you need to know about computer identity theft, and in fact out of all the types of identity theft in general, computer identity theft is by far the most common. This is not hard to believe, considering the amount of time that the average person spends on a computer each day in the world we now live in.

We buy so much and so often put our personal information out over the computer that it is no wonder why computer identity theft statistics are rising so dramatically. Especially in regards to credit cards in particular, computer identity theft is the easiest type of identity theft for criminals, and this is why if you use a computer - and you most likely do - then you are going to have to take steps in order to make sure that you are not a victim of computer identity theft.

Steps That you Should Take

There are many different steps and precautions that you can take in order to make yourself as protected as possible against this type of theft, however you are also going to want to keep in mind the fact that regardless of what you do, there is no real way that you can make yourself completely safe, however prevention is the best method, and so you should remember this.

The more steps and precautions that you take, the better off that you are going to be, and one of the best things that you can do, is make sure to go into your bank on a frequent basis in order to get someone to do a check to see if any of your personal information is being used by anyone but you.

Although it is obviously more critical to do something like this if you have had your wallet stolen or lost for instance, it is still a good idea to do it regardless, because there are many other ways that you can have your identity stolen besides from your identification in your wallet. For instance, someone could have gone through your trash and found a piece of mail that had your personal information on it and used that.

It is really not hard for a person to steal another person’s identity, however unfortunate that may be, and so you are going to want to make sure that you make smart decisions, such as ripping or cutting up your mail before you throw it out.



By: Ann Marier

About the Author:

Create a video blog…instantly.