Identity theft is the new world of organized crime. The best way to protect yourself from this crime is to prevent identity theft from happening to you. This starts with finding out what identity theft is, and where and when it could happen to you!
Defining Identity Theft
What is identity theft? Identity theft is any time someone without your knowledge or consent, uses your personal or financial information. This can range from steeling your passport to travel illegally, to gaining financial information to make fraudulent purchases. But the majority of identity theft cases involved identity theft of credit card information.
Find out more: What Is Credit Card Fraud
What is Identity Theft
Identity theft with your credit card information occurs any time someone gets a hold of your credit card number. This often happens online. You might receive an e-mail warning you that something is wrong with your credit card, and you click on a link and are directed to a place where you are required to put in your credit card information to “fix” the problem. This is a scam known as phishing, where the criminal is looking to gain those numbers for their own use. And just because you are not online, doesn’t mean your information is not! If you register your car or pay a speeding ticket, important parts of your identity, often including credit card numbers, are automatically put online!
Your Identity is Stolen – Now What?
Once the criminal gets a hold of your information, they will probably make purchases using your credit card number. It does not matter that they do not have the physical card in their hands, since the world of online shopping does not require seeing the card, just entering the numbers. When you notice fraudulent charges on your credit card statement, it is time to take action.
Start by contacting your bank. Often your bank will be willing to put a freeze on your account. Also, most credit cards have policies that do not hold you liable for purchases made by an identity thief, but you have to catch them! The card will be frozen, and you will be given a new card.
Action You Must Take after your identity is stolen
Once you have done this, you need to contact each of the credit reporting agencies’ fraud departments to start the process of removing the transaction from your credit report. https://www.privacyrights.org/fs/fs17a.htm. Now, contact your police department, and the police department in the state where the identity was used, if you can find it. Get a copy of the report the police file. Keep all of this documentation in order to prove that you have been a victim, should your bank or credit card company start demanding payment for charges you did not make.
How to Prevent Identity Theft Online
Preventing identity theft starts with knowledge, because knowledge is power. Knowing how and where criminals get identities is crucial to stopping this crime. The first step in identity theft prevention is building identity theft protection into your computer.
Make sure you have an active firewall on your computer. This helps limit the number of people who are able to access the information stored there through your Internet connection. Next, install anti spyware on your computer to keep people from spying on your activities.
Next, make sure whenever you are about to enter your credit card information on a website that you know whose site it is. Avoid clicking on links in e-mails to sites that want your information. These criminals are experts at making their fraudulent site look like the real thing. Instead, type in the URL yourself, and confirm that it is the correct site.
Never enter credit card information on a site that is not secure. There should be icons on the site telling you that it is secure. Also, the address will read https, instead of just http. Never give out your passwords, and do not let the computer store your passwords, even if it does make your life more convenient. Hackers know exactly where these files are! Keep your passwords long and hard to guess.
Keeping your identity safe starts with proper steps to prevent identity theft. Do not take this crime lightly. Having your identity stolen can lead to months and years of frustration, and fraudulent charges. Some thieves can even steal your money from your checking account before you have an idea that there is a problem. Protect yourself from identity theft now!
