Does identity theft fraud only occur, or mostly occur online? Will you be protected as long as you don’t shop online? Nope, sorry, not even close.
But that’s OK, even though would-be scammers are pretty much everywhere, online and off, you can still protect yourself from identity theft fraud. And, it won’t even be that hard!
You see, for you to get taken, thieves will need some information from you. They have many ways to get this information, but you can ensure that they never get the information they need.
In this post, I will provide you with some cold hard truths about how you can avoid becoming a victim. To warn you, I’m not big on sugarcoating. The information I will provide you can be helpful, but it may cause you to face some hard truths.
OK, let’s get started:
Shredder
First of all, to restrict the amount of access a scammer would have to your information, you can do several simple things. One of the easiest is to invest in and regularly use a simple and inexpensive shredder. You can get o good one from Amazon delivered right to you at https://amzn.to/3wYmvKH.
These don’t cost more than about $20 -$30 for a stripe shredder, and you can get one at your local department store, discount store, or office supply store. The new models will not just cut your documents up into long pieces that may be reassembled. They will cut them up into such tiny pieces that it will be virtually impossible for someone to put them back together. That is the type I recommended, a cross-cut shredder for right at $60.
Dumpster Diving
One of the most common ways for someone to get your information is to pick through your trash. So, if you are shredding everything you throw out, you are cutting them off.
An area that also needs to be considered is prescription bottles. Always remove or blackout your name, the name of the medication, and the prescription number to aid in avoiding someone stealing your medical identity as well. Also, make sure you dispose of anything with your full name and address to assist in keeping this information from thieves. For more on medical identity theft visit, https://bit.ly/3oDmKHq.
What You Carry
Next, never carry everything right in your wallet. That is a big risk. Suppose your wallet is lost or stolen, and you have a bunch of credit cards or a Social Security card. In that case, a thief can not only easily steal your identity and rack up a ton of debt in your name. They can also use your cards and rake up thousands of dollars of charges before you even know what hit you.
Now, you may be thinking that that wouldn’t be such a big deal since you wouldn’t legally be on the hook for those charges, but have you ever stopped to wonder who will be paying for them? They aren’t just going to go away. Instead, the companies will pass those costs on to all of us in the form of fess.
And never carry your debit card with you as that carries much more risk to you. Not only can someone charge anything your account will let them, but they can also access your other bank accounts and clean them out as well. And unlike with a credit card, the liability is yours, and you must prove you were not the one who was at fault and that you reported the loss or theft within hours of the occurrence.
Email and Phone
Don’t ever click a link in an email or hand out personal information just because someone calls or sends you an email, and they claim to be from your bank or credit card company.
These are scams. No credit card company or bank will send you an email or call you to ask for your account information or Social Security number… that is just not going to happen. They would already have access to all of that. These are scams, and they are dead simple to avoid.
If you’re just not sure, get off the phone, or the computer, look up the number yourself (don’t ever call a number that someone has given you on the phone. It will likely be bogus), and call to ask if there are any issues you need to know about. This is especially true of the IRA, they will not call or email you at any point, and all of their correspondence occurs via the USPS.
See, I told you it would be painless to avoid becoming a victim. These two simple steps can go so far in protecting your identity and your financial future that I don’t even understand how people do get ripped off.
Identity theft fraud can easily be avoided. Criminals are smart, but they aren’t that smart. They usually rely on the apathy and greed of their victims. So don’t be a willing participant in your scam. Just say no!
To aid in avoiding becoming a victim, a final note is to place a credit freeze with all three credit bureaus. For more on this process visit, https://bit.ly/3wZmzK8.
And as always, for more information, feel free to contact me directly or reach out to another Registered Financial Consultant. Though I am based in Nashville, Tennessee, I can assist you no matter where you are located.
