How to Protect Yourself from Identity Theft
Bill Shrink Guy just gave out this apt reminder on how vulnerable anyone can be when it comes to identity theft. My identity was never stolen, thank goodness, but I have heard of so much stories that I have come to take faithful steps in protecting myself and avoiding the possibility of my identity to be stolen by taking these measures:
1. Ditch any unnecessary personal information or passwords in wallet or purse
I used to walk around in a wallet with my original bank slip with my password on it. I even have in one time wrote my internet banking password in the slip lest I forget. Dumb…
Rid your wallet of all papers with any passwords or any personal information that are precious to thieves lurking around. The same advise goes to those who leaves their bank online passwords into their cellphone…
2. Be safe with your mail
How often have we heard of missing important mail? I do not want to bark at the wrong tree here, but there are certainly instances and reports of those nosy Postal Office employees. Just to be on the safe side, manage your mail and divert important mail such as bank statements or credit card statements which contains your personal details which may be used against you or used to cause harm on others.
3. Use online facility to access your accounts
Like me, I opt out on paper statement of accounts from my bank. I use the online facility to check my transactions, and to download my current statements into my Quicken for quick consolidation. Not only it is convenient, if in the event you spot an erroneous and suspicious transaction from using the online facility, you can quickly notify your bank for the immediate cancellation of your card and the bank can immediately check the said transaction. Not only are you protecting yourself, and your identity, you are saving your bank paper and saving the environment.
Do you know of friends or anyone who had experienced identity theft?
