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Identity theft, globally, is a rampant social and legal problem that has affected many people. Id theft is that action perpetuated on another individual in which the innocent person’s personal identifiable information is stolen.

Generally, this captured personal information is utilized by the thief to commit fraud by posing as that individual Some of those negative purposes of stealing someone else’s identity can include credit card fraud by applying for new credit card accounts.

Accessing the individual’s financial information and account details using identity fraud has become a major problem since the use of the internet has expanded so rapidly.

The primary reason for identity theft is for monetary gain. Obviously, identity theft is not only of great concern for the individual affected, but by the financial institutions that are deceived by this practice. Therefore identity theft protection is important.

Measures  individuals can take include the monitoring of credit reports, using a paper shredder to detroy information, and adhering to certain safety measures that involve the postal system.

Evidence Eraser is a program that can be downloaded for free that helps eliminate many of these illegal faudelent actions. 

However, if you wish to check your credit report more frequently there is another option open to you. This option   is to commit to a monthly program that will monitor your monthly credit activity which gives you a higher standard of identity theft protection. An alert is sent to you when there is abnormal activity monitored by this service. This service is offered by various credit monitoring services in conjunction with the credit reporting companies and can be activated through a monthly fee.

Shred Documents

An additional measure that can be utilized to prevent ID theft is to properly destroy sensitive personal identifiable information. Often identity theft can be traced back to individuals who search the trash of their potential victims looking for personal data. Some of this personal information can be credit card statements, correspondence that includes social security numbers, credit card offers, etc.

The best way to destroy this information is to utilize a shredder. Two common types of paper shredders are the strip shredders and the cross cut shredder. The cross cut shredder is probably the most effective as it cuts the document in both a horizontal and vertical manner.

Mail Boxes

One additional way that may help to prevent identity theft is by being sensitive to the mail delivery system. Everyday, new credit offers arrive at the consumer’s home. To prevent these offers from falling into the wrong hands there are a number of options.

One option is to secure the mailbox used to receive your daily mail. For further identity theft protection, rather than leaving mail outside the home for pickup from the postal service, it is best to place outgoing mail in an authorized mail box. Also, if the credit card offers are declined it is best shred the credit card offer being so that they will not fall into the hands of identity thieves.

If you want to stop a credit card offer being sent to you on a regular basis then you need to write to the credit card company and request that your name is remove from their mailing list.

There is a website called Scambusters which is dedicated to helping you protect yourself from clever scams both online and offline! There You’ll find lots of great resources on how to avoid the most popular scams,identity theft threats, viruses and urban legends making the rounds.

 

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The IRS has been the subject of an email scam campaign. They are informing the public to be on the lookout for email indicating they are coming from the Agency. Since the IRS does not send unsolicited emails asking for your personal information, you must assume these emails are written to trick you into giving out financial and personal information you should not be disclosing to the public.

The IRS has noticed an increase in the number of scams. Since November 99 scams have been identified. During the tax filing season, forty were identified. In June an additional twenty surfaced. Many are originating outside of the United States. Some of the countries are Argentina, Aruba, Australia, Austria, Canada, Chile, China, England, Japan, Italy, Korea, Malaysia, Mexico, Poland, Singapore and Slovakia. Some have come from the United States.

The IRS will not send you an email requesting personal information of any kind. They won’t try to trick you into disclosing bank account numbers, pin numbers, or credit card information. Since this information can be used for identity theft, you must be aware of everything you do on and offline.

If you give out your personal information, it can then be used to steal your identity and perhaps your financial assets. The IRS has established an email box for you to send suspicious email you receive which appears to have come from the IRS. The email address is : phising@irs.gov. The IRS will investigate your email to determine if it fits into the scam category.

If you experience Identity Theft, the Federal Trade Commission has a consumer web site at http://www.consumer.gov/idtheft/index.html As in all aspects of life, do your due diligence before providing personal information to anyone you do not know.

Nan is an Accountant and Real Estate Professional with an information and research site online IdentityTheft and a Business
Writer with a blog WhoKnew

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Often times, people are very concerned with sending personal information over the Internet. With all of the identity theft happening today, it is of great concern. However, there are some practical ways to safeguard your identity. First off, whenever you are looking into a company, verify their credibility with the Better Business Bureau. This will help you to find out how they have treated their customers in the past. Also, be sure that the company you are considering has a secure website. One way to be sure the company has a secure website, is when you log onto their site, the 0http0 will turn to 0https0. The 0s0 indicates the site is secure. A secure website ensures that efforts have been made to prevent hackers from […]

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