6 tips to avoid name thieves

Identification theft is a crime wherein the criminal steals someone else’s identity and uses this identity to purchase merchandise or to immigrate or flee the country. In stealing an identity, the identity thief gathers essential information about his victim. The information the thief steals are unique only to the victim like the victim’s Social Security number or license number.

Identity theft leads to a lot of unsolved and serious crimes. For example, when your identity has been “stolen” the one who stole your identity could buy things you could not afford but in the end you have to pay for, or in some more serious cases is when a thief commits a grave crime, you might be the one accused for that crime. These are just some reasons why you should know a few identification theft prevention tips.

Here are 6 identification theft prevention tips that you could do to protect yourself from identification thieves.

1. You could buy a cross-cut type shredder which costs only about $60 to $70. These shredders will guarantee you that whoever looks at your trash will not be able to piece out viable information about you. In case you are not aware, identification thieves first check out their victim’s trash. Most of the time, we are not aware that we are already throwing away important bits information about us like pre-approved credit applications and receipts of restaurants or shops that we often visit. One of the identification theft prevention tips that you could follow is by destroying papers containing your name at the very least.
2. You have to be very careful of shoulder surfers. When using the ATM, there are those identification thieves who just act to line up behind you but in reality they are already looking at the pin that you put in. Once they got your pin number, they could get access to your account.
3. When receiving checks, an identification theft prevention tip for you is have these checks be delivered to your bank and not to your home address. There are identification thieves who interfere with your mail so you have to be careful.
4. In ordering a new credit card or when you renew your old one and you are to receive it by mail, check the calendar and see at around which day you would be receiving your credit card. If you did not receive it at the certain day you expect to have it, call the credit card company and ask if they sent it. If they did, ask if there was any filed change of address.
5. Identification thieves utilize unused credit cards very easily without even your knowledge. So identification theft prevention there is to have your unused credit card cancelled.
6. Make sure to put a password in all your accounts. Do not use any information about you to be your password, like your mother’s maiden name or your birth date. Try making up a word or using a code to serve as your password.