Imagine how terrible it would be to have your identity stolen. Lots of people shutter at the thought and rightly so. That’s why identity monitoring is such a hot topic.
The financial cost of having your identity stolen can be horrendous. This is to say nothing of the wasted hours and feeling of being violated that accompanies any personal intrusion like that. It’s as if someone broke into your home and turned it upside down. I’m going to show you how to get identity monitoring for free with a cute little trick. But first, let’s take a look at how people mess with your life.
How do people steal your identity?
Anytime you put information on the internet, it becomes a target for thieves. The less information you provide, the safer you’ll be. This is especially true when it comes to peer-to-peer sharing sites. Identity theft on Facebook is a huge problem.
Dumpster Diving
This is actually a favorite among these stealing SOBs. If you throw private information in the trash you are practically begging a slime ball to rip you off. Get a shredder and use it. Another favorite method the thieves use to steal your identity is to nab your wallet. In it is everything thieves need to steal your identity.
Address Change
People who want to steal your identity can also change your address. They can go down to the post office and do this. Once they do, they’ll start getting your mail. It won’t take long before they get a few vital pieces of information. And once that is done they’re off to the races.
Tip #1- Identity Monitoring for Free – Sign up for free credit score monitoring. You get your free credit score without using a credit card and you get this every month without signing up for any “free trials”. If you see big swings in your credit rating you’ll know something is up.
Credit Card Skimmers
This is a very hard ploy to protect against. Tech savvy people embed legitimate credit card readers with their own machines so they also get your credit card information.
Eyes and Ears.
Sometimes, people will look over your shoulders and copy down your vital and private information. If they don’t do that themselves, they often use cameras and microphones to get your private information.
Fraudulent Emails
Sometimes you’ll get an email from what you think is your bank – but really isn’t. They often use some ploy to get you to provide your password or login information. Once they do it’s only a matter of time before they know everything they need to know about you to clean you out.
Tip #2 – The absolute best and cheapest way to guard yourself is to check your bank statement and credit card bill frequently. Download the data every few days and watch for suspicious or unfamiliar charges.
What are the best steps to guard against identity theft?
The first step you need to take to protect your identity is to get off mailing lists that provide pre-approved credit card offers. Those mailings are just too easy to steal and complete by somebody else. Get off those lists by calling 1-888-567-8688 or going online www.optoutprescreen.com to opt out of all credit offers sent to you in the mail.
Next, get on rotation with the credit bureaus. By law, each credit bureau is required to provide you with one credit report for free each year. Since there are three bureaus, you can get a report every 4 months and always be up-to-date.
Contact them below:
Equifax Options,
By phone: ( 888) 567-8688
By mail:
Equifax Credit Information Services, Inc.
P.O. Box 740241
Atlanta, GA 30374
Experian
By phone : (402) 458 5247
By mail:
Experian Consumer Services
901 West Bond Street
Lincoln, NE 68521
TransUnion
By phone: (888) 567-8688
By mail:
TransUnion
P.O. Box 505
Woodlyn, PA 19094
The best way to protect yourself is to monitor you credit and take the steps outlined above to make sure thieves don’t have access to your information. And you have to take extra precautions if you want to avoid identity theft while traveling.
If this sounds like a lot of work, you’re right. It is. But it’s nothing compared to the headache you’ll have if you don’t follow these steps and then become a victim of this crime.
Have you ever had your identity stolen? What happened? How did you correct it? What would you do differently now?
dan says
April 18, 2012 at 10:05 AMOne trick I use to remember to check my credit report is to set up yearly recurring appointments in my google calendar (or whatever calendar you use). For instance, I have the following appointments: Every January 1st, I have a reminder to check Equifax, May 1st, check Experian, and September 1st, check TransUnion. I might not actually do it on that day (if it happens to be a sunday or something) but at least I get a little reminder automatically.