How to Protect Yourself from Identity Theft
Living in an open society such as ours where a significant amount of personal information about you is stored on dozens of databases accessed easily by strangers, clerks, hackers and other assorted thieves, makes it impossible to protect yourself 100 percent from becoming an identity theft victim. However, there are steps you can take to reduce your odds of becoming a victim --
Get your name off of direct marketing lists. The fewer credit card and loan offers you receive in the mail, the fewer chances there are for a thief to steal your identity the old-fashioned way -- by stealing your mail. You should definitely opt out of direct marketing lists if your mail is vulnerable to theft, you are planning to move, or you move a lot. Don't assume that the post office will forward your mail because many times they do not forward mail as requested. If the post office fails to forward all of your mail, those pre-approved credit card offers will continue to go to your old address. The person now living there can purchase your social security number online quite easily and get a credit card in your name. Click here for information on opting out of direct marketing offers.
Check your credit reports at least once a year. A relative, friend or stranger could obtain a credit card or loan in your name and you would never know it unless he or she defaulted or you checked your credit report and noticed a strange account listed there. This is because most creditors are very lax in verifying the information on credit applications. If someone has your social security number and a few other bits of personal information about you, they can get credit, utilities, a cell phone, a lease or any number of things in your name with little effort. Until very recently, creditors would even allow applicants to use a post office box as their address. Now, one must use a physical address, but few creditors will question the fact that the applicant has applied for credit or housing using an address that does not appear on your credit report.
The good news is that Congress passed a law requiring the three credit bureaus -- Experian, Equifax and Trans Union - to give each consumer one free copy of their credit reports each year. Click here to find out how to get your free credit reports.
