Are You Making These Mistakes That Made One Identity Thief Rich?

By: Stanly Q. Morgansten

Ever wonder what law enforcement officials do to protect their identity? Wonder no more because you'll discover exactly what the criminals tell police about their identity theft scams.

If you have watched the news for any length of time recently, you are very aware that identity theft is a huge problem. In fact, you have probably been a victim or know someone who has been victimized. I can say that quite confidently because according the U.S. Postmaster General, there were over 12 million cases of identity theft recorded. While many consumers know the problems exist, very few have a clear understanding of what these identity thieves do to gain access to your personal information.

Myth # 1 Most Identity Thieves Are Male If you stop the average person on the street show them 3 random photos and ask them to point out the person most likely to be a I.D. thief, you will find that at a rate of 6 to 1, most people select the men as potential thieves. This all too common misconception leaves you vulnerable to being scammed. The facts are clear that just about anyone these days could be an identity thief. It is very important that we stay on guard. Simply be aware of your surroundings and never leave your personal items unattended for any reason.

Misconception # 2 Relaxing Your Guard While Shopping or Eating Out This one is hard to overcome because in our society, we have grown use to not carry cash. It's simple and easy to hand over our credit or debit card to a waitress or cashiers to pay our bills. The problem is regardless of where you are or how nice the neighborhood is, you have just handed your personal information to a total stranger. You totally trust this person to only use that information for this transaction. What you don't know is that it is so very easy to steal your credit card information, store it on another card, and have it back to you in less than a few moments and you'll never know until you get the bill. To combat this, regularly look at your statements and begin to keep a daily spending journal and immediately respond to any discrepancies.

An example would be $50 this way when your statement comes in the mail, you will quickly notice any anomalies. Think about this. How long does a person have to work at a store or restaurant before they'd have access to hundreds of customers' personal data? Hint: Not long at all. According to our identity thief, most people like her take these jobs for a few months and after they have your data, they "take an early retirement".

Misconception # 3 Tossing Out That Junk Mail Unopened Whether you have good credit, great credit or terrible credit, it really does not matter. You will receive in a given month between 12 and 50 plus new offers each month to open new banking, credit accounts. The problem with this is that most of us are lazy. We fall in one of two categories. The first is a person who does not own a personal shredding machine and simply tosses the multiple credit offers in the trash or simply tears them in half and then tosses them. The second is the person who does own a personal shredder but has become too lazy to shred each and every piece of documentation sent to them.

Always remember that one man's trash is another man's treasure. These crooks do not play fair. Consider this, you can spend a few minutes taking these precautions or you can spend a few months and in some cases years fighting to restore your credit and your good name.

Tip: After you shred your documents, add a little water to the bag before you seal it and then toss it. Not only will the pages be sliced and diced but will also be a wet and soggy mess, completely unusable by anyone.

Misconception # 4 Sending or Receiving Mail from at Your Home By now you are beginning to see the point. Identity thieves commit their crimes in several ways. They steal credit card payments and other outgoing mail from private or curbside mailboxes. In fact, according to our expert, some will go a step further and file a change of address form in the victim's name to divert mail and gather personal and financial data.

Another way to do this is by opening a post office box. For many this is a necessity because they do not arrive home in time to collect the mail as soon as it is delivered. If you give a crook access to your mail, it becomes a simple process of updating your address to theirs. Once done, you've lost a lot more than you think.

Stop trying to make it without help! Listen, very few people can successfully protect themselves and their families without help. The major problem is that you have been trying to do it alone and it is just NOT effective. How much difference would it make in your life if you had a proven guide who has been in the trenches? There are many companies that provide affordable identity theft solutions for people like you and me.

However, before you join a credit monitoring service of some type, make sure that they have the stamp of approval from consumers and police officers alike.

Article Source: http://www.articlemap.com

Before you subscribe to any identity theft protection service, make sure you read Stanly Morgansten's review of Lifelock.com, an industry leader in identity theft protection.

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