What You Won't Believe About Identity Theft!!
Want to protect your identity like the law officials do? You've come to the right place! You'll find out just how these identity theft criminals plot their scams.
According to the U.S. Postal Service, there were almost 12 million incidents of identity theft in the United States in 2006 at a cost of $6.3 billion to consumers. This alarming statistic has increased the alert level of many consumers; however most are still unaware of the specific tactics these identity thieves use. After an extensive interview, one notorious identity thief, revealed 4 misconceptions she used to separate you from your money.
Myth #1: Only Men are Identity Thieves
This is a very common myth that makes an identity thief's job so much simpler. One of the main issues is that the media portrays most identity thieves as men. In actuality, most criminals are fashionable and attractive females! You can steer clear from this deception, by closely monitoring your personal data with both women and men. According to researchers, both men and women let their guard down around women, more than they would with men. Remember, everyone is a potential identity thief. You don't have to become fearful that everyone you meet is a crook, but just be aware.
Misconception # 2 Trusting Your Friendly Store Clerk or Waiter
This one is hard to combat because in most cases you are required to hand over personal information and or documents to store clerks or waiters at restaurants. What you may not know is that some of those people who are waiting on you may in fact have two jobs. By day they work in the local department store but at night they have a side job. Their side job is simply to provide a few customers credit card numbers to their friends. This works so well because they have access to your credit card or account number. The only way to really combat this is to review your account statements. It is also a good idea to keep a journal of expenditures greater than a certain dollar amount.
For example, check your statement when it comes in the mail, that way if you notice anything out of the ordinary, even if it's just $50, you catch it. Question: How long does it really take for a store employee to gain complete access to thousands of consumers' personal information? Answer: A very short time. Based on what our infamous identity thief has stated, most of the identity thieves take on jobs for a little while, and after they've collected the data they need, they are long gone sipping mojitos by the bay!
Myth #3: Throwing Away Unopened Junk Mail
If you have good credit, bad credit, or no credit at all, your information is out there. On average, you can get about 15-20 plus offers every month to open a new checking/savings account, or a credit card. The thing that makes this a big problem is that most of us are too lazy to closely monitor our documents. There are two types of people in this situation. There's the person who may not have a shredding machine, but still decides to just throw the mail with all sorts of personal information in the trash or just tear it in half. Then there's the person who actually owns a personal shredding machine, but doesn't "feel" like shredding each and every piece of information.
Please note that all these thieves have to do is get a hold of one item of your personal information from your trash can and you're now a victim! Don't believe us? Ask yourself, "What am I doing at 3 a.m.?" Then ask what our trusty identity thief is doing at 3 am. Unfortunately our neighborhood identity thief is going through your "junk" mail sifting and preparing to sort your information later. A nice suggestion: After you shred your personal documents, add a little bit of water to the trash and then seal and throw it away. Now your information has been shredded and even wet and soggy, leaving it completely unusable.
Mistake #4: Mailing or Receiving items from Your Home
Hopefully you're starting to understand the intensity of this issue. Identity thieves can commit crimes all sorts of ways. Your outgoing credit card payments now become their personal piggy bank. Experts say that some identity thieves are bold enough to fill out a change of address form in the victim's name, simply to gain complete access to financial and personal information. Here's a tip: Be sure to drop all outgoing mail at your local United States Postal Service mailbox. You may also think about opening a P.O. Box. Although it may seem like a hassle, you'll be less stressed than losing your life's savings; and these are the preventative steps to follow if you want to beat identity theft.
The biggest issue is that there are so many avenues in which to become a victim; stay protected all day every day. Don't try to fix the problem alone!
Please note, there are not that many people that can protect themselves and their families, successfully, without help. You've been trying to do it alone, and it's not very effective. Wouldn't it make sense to have someone who has been through what you've been through, or better yet, what you DON'T want to go through? Companies like LifeLock provide awesome identity theft solutions for people like you and I.
When selecting a service to monitor and proactively protect your credit, make sure they have been recommended by over and over by top law enforcement personnel and their service has been proven to work in real world situations.
Identity Theft Protection and Identity Theft Prevention are serious issues. You can put an END to identity theft with LifeLock. LifeLock GUARANTEES identity theft will never happen to you. If you would like more information about identity theft protection, please visit lifelock.com.
According to the U.S. Postal Service, there were almost 12 million incidents of identity theft in the United States in 2006 at a cost of $6.3 billion to consumers. This alarming statistic has increased the alert level of many consumers; however most are still unaware of the specific tactics these identity thieves use. After an extensive interview, one notorious identity thief, revealed 4 misconceptions she used to separate you from your money.
Myth #1: Only Men are Identity Thieves
This is a very common myth that makes an identity thief's job so much simpler. One of the main issues is that the media portrays most identity thieves as men. In actuality, most criminals are fashionable and attractive females! You can steer clear from this deception, by closely monitoring your personal data with both women and men. According to researchers, both men and women let their guard down around women, more than they would with men. Remember, everyone is a potential identity thief. You don't have to become fearful that everyone you meet is a crook, but just be aware.
Misconception # 2 Trusting Your Friendly Store Clerk or Waiter
This one is hard to combat because in most cases you are required to hand over personal information and or documents to store clerks or waiters at restaurants. What you may not know is that some of those people who are waiting on you may in fact have two jobs. By day they work in the local department store but at night they have a side job. Their side job is simply to provide a few customers credit card numbers to their friends. This works so well because they have access to your credit card or account number. The only way to really combat this is to review your account statements. It is also a good idea to keep a journal of expenditures greater than a certain dollar amount.
For example, check your statement when it comes in the mail, that way if you notice anything out of the ordinary, even if it's just $50, you catch it. Question: How long does it really take for a store employee to gain complete access to thousands of consumers' personal information? Answer: A very short time. Based on what our infamous identity thief has stated, most of the identity thieves take on jobs for a little while, and after they've collected the data they need, they are long gone sipping mojitos by the bay!
Myth #3: Throwing Away Unopened Junk Mail
If you have good credit, bad credit, or no credit at all, your information is out there. On average, you can get about 15-20 plus offers every month to open a new checking/savings account, or a credit card. The thing that makes this a big problem is that most of us are too lazy to closely monitor our documents. There are two types of people in this situation. There's the person who may not have a shredding machine, but still decides to just throw the mail with all sorts of personal information in the trash or just tear it in half. Then there's the person who actually owns a personal shredding machine, but doesn't "feel" like shredding each and every piece of information.
Please note that all these thieves have to do is get a hold of one item of your personal information from your trash can and you're now a victim! Don't believe us? Ask yourself, "What am I doing at 3 a.m.?" Then ask what our trusty identity thief is doing at 3 am. Unfortunately our neighborhood identity thief is going through your "junk" mail sifting and preparing to sort your information later. A nice suggestion: After you shred your personal documents, add a little bit of water to the trash and then seal and throw it away. Now your information has been shredded and even wet and soggy, leaving it completely unusable.
Mistake #4: Mailing or Receiving items from Your Home
Hopefully you're starting to understand the intensity of this issue. Identity thieves can commit crimes all sorts of ways. Your outgoing credit card payments now become their personal piggy bank. Experts say that some identity thieves are bold enough to fill out a change of address form in the victim's name, simply to gain complete access to financial and personal information. Here's a tip: Be sure to drop all outgoing mail at your local United States Postal Service mailbox. You may also think about opening a P.O. Box. Although it may seem like a hassle, you'll be less stressed than losing your life's savings; and these are the preventative steps to follow if you want to beat identity theft.
The biggest issue is that there are so many avenues in which to become a victim; stay protected all day every day. Don't try to fix the problem alone!
Please note, there are not that many people that can protect themselves and their families, successfully, without help. You've been trying to do it alone, and it's not very effective. Wouldn't it make sense to have someone who has been through what you've been through, or better yet, what you DON'T want to go through? Companies like LifeLock provide awesome identity theft solutions for people like you and I.
When selecting a service to monitor and proactively protect your credit, make sure they have been recommended by over and over by top law enforcement personnel and their service has been proven to work in real world situations.
Identity Theft Protection and Identity Theft Prevention are serious issues. You can put an END to identity theft with LifeLock. LifeLock GUARANTEES identity theft will never happen to you. If you would like more information about identity theft protection, please visit lifelock.com.
About the Author:
Author Linda Seamore is a consumer advocate serious aboutteaching people how to protect their identity. After months of exhausting study, she stumbled upon LifeLock.com the industry leader in ID theft protection. Life Lock is a proactive identity theft protection agency, specializing in prevention of identity theft rather than just the reporting of it.
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