The 6 O’clock reports and newspapers are forever running stories of real life identity theft cases and the issue does not look like going away explaining why it is vital that you keep all of your personal data safe to reduce the prospects of turning into a victim yourself. To protect yourself you will need to practice safe banking, business and online practices.
You should always keep all your PIN numbers and passwords safe and use numbers and passwords that are not easy to guess. Never use birth dates, telephone numbers or address numbers as your passwords or in your PIN numbers.
At any time you want to make use of your PIN number ensure that you have it covered from others seeing it and never give anyone your PIN or your passwords for any of your financial info irrespective of how much you might trust them.
Never write down your PIN numbers or passwords as this may increase the chances of the info falling into the wrong hands and when you do business of any kind only do it with people that you trust.
Even if you get any type of info from the banks or for credit cards, make sure you totally destroy the info either by burning or shredding it and if you put it out with the garbage ensure that folk who go through your rubbish can’t piece together the information to take your identity.
And yes these criminals do go through people’s rubbish to get the info they require as this is often one of the easiest methods to get what they need.
Pre-approved credit could be a real problem as identity thieves can get the forms and fill them out to their needs and pinch your identity quite simply.
You cannot be too cautious when protecting your identity and the effort and time it takes to be safe is undeniably a lot less than the time it takes to clear up the Problems that it can create later on down the line.
Joe Santini has been offering help with identity theft protection for over 10 years.