Defense Strategies Regarding Identity Theft

As you probably know by now, identity theft is generally considered to be the fastest-growing crime in the country.  Moreover, because dealing with identity theft is such a headache after-the-fact, it's to your benefit to focus on ways to avoid becoming a victimin the first place.  That being the case, there are a couple of small things you can do to boost the odds in your favor, two of which are listed here:

Invest in a good shredder
Someone once said that the best offense is a good defense.  Here, one of the first steps in identity theft defense is minimizing the amount of personal information that is out there about you.  This, naturally, involves shredding documents that have any personal identifying information on them:  utility bills, credit card offers, bank account statements, etc.  Granted, it's extra work, but the days when you could just discard these items by tossing them in the trash are long gone.  Dumpster-diving is nothing to a determined criminal.  The hope is that shredding will make the task of getting your personal information far more trouble than its worth.

Montior your credit
Since credit card fraud is the most common form of identity theft, you really need to pay attention to what's going on with your credit.  To that end, you should regularly monitor your credit not just by reviewing statements, but also by getting a free copy of your credit report via the three major credit-reporting agencies.  You're allowed to get one free copy of your credit report per year from each of the agencies; doing the math, that means you can obtain a new credit history for review purposes every four months.

Simply put, you have to be proactive when it comes to identity theft.  That means taking action, like shredding, to minimize the amount of availabe info about you that the public can get its hands on.  Moreover, you can't wait until a red flag pops up to learn that there's a problem; you have to be actively looking for potential problems and issues, such as monitoring your credit report.

You can find more resources regarding identity theft at Identity Theft Defense HQ.

Identity Theft: Criminal Tactics to Get Your Personal Information

As everyone probably knows by now, identity theft is a prevalent and pervasive crime in the United States.  Millions are affected by this crime every year, with the annual damage estimated to be in the billions.  Fortunately, as the public gains greater awareness of the problem, people are making more of an effort to protect that personal information.  Criminals, however, remain undaunted and still doggedly pursue ways of getting the average individual's personal information.  Here are some of the tactics they employ:

Phishing scams
"Phishing" generally refers to attempts to get get information from people by posing as a legitimate entity or site. A typical scam might involve sending someone an email aying that their account has been compromised and they need to supply certain personal information (username, password, social security number, etc.) in order to regain access.  If the individual supplies the information, the criminals are off to the races. 

Dumpster diving
No act is too low-tech for a criminal to employ - even digging through your trash and refuse.  It's a lot like panning for gold:  they really only need to find that one little nugget of information to help them stake their claim to your identity.  Therefore, it's important to take note of what you're throwing away.  (A good shredder would be a sound investment.)

Outright theft
Leaving a wallet or purse unattended is an open invitation to thieves.  This is an easy way for them to get their hands on your personal information, and they will probably resort to just plain old theft.  However, if it's a particularly shrewd thief, they may just copy your personal information - name, credit card numbers, driver's license number, etc. - and not physically take anything at all.  (And why should that?  They have everything they need, and taking your wallet or purse would just tip you off.)

Needless to say, these are just a few of the tactics that criminals use in order to get their hands on your personal information.  There are many more - some simple, some sophisticated - that will allow you to become the victim of identity theft.  It is probably in your best interest to remain vigilant and protective of the personal information you divulge.

You can find more resources regarding identity theft at Identity Theft Defense HQ.

A Few Quick facts About Identity Theft

Identity theft is without question a very tough crime to deal with.  It can be exhausting trying to to clear your name, recover bank account funds, deny liabiity for charges, etc.  For those wondering just how prevalent identity theft is, here are some short facts on the matter:

• Identity theft is considered to be the fastest-growing crime in the U.S.
• Roughly 700,000 become victims of identity theft every year.
• Identity theft costs consumers an estimated $500 million to $2 billion each year.
• Credit card fraud is the most common form of identity theft.
• Utility fraud (using another identity to get utility service) and bank fraud are the second and third most-common forms of identity theft.
• Approximately 40% of all fraud crimes involve identity theft.
• It takes some victims years to get identity theft matters resolved.

Needless to say, there are many other facts and statistcs that could be cited.  Clearly, identity theft has a wide-ranging impact, and it's important that you develop protection and defense from the threat of identity theft.

You can find more resources regarding identity theft at Identity Theft Defense HQ.