Avoiding Identity Theft Is Exercise In Common Sense

If you had a hundred thousand dollars in cash

, chances are you would never leave it unattended on a table in a strange restaurant or on a department store counter. Yet that is essentially what a person with good credit is doing if they leave behind their credit card slips. There are some simple things people can do in avoiding identity theft, and most of them are just taking a common sense approach to protecting your information.

While a large focus on identity theft revolves around the use of the internet, the telephone is still a common method used for identity theft crimes. One of the ways in avoiding identity theft is to never give out personal information over the telephone regardless of the threatened ramifications for refusing. For example, if someone claims to be from you bank calls and reports they are investigating potential identity theft of your account information, they may tell you they are just verifying the information.

Most scams will ask you to give them social security numbers and other information, 'just for verification' but common sense tells you they already have it. Having them give you the information and you will tell them if it is accurate is one way of avoiding identity theft, but usually just hanging up and calling the bank's listed phone number will reveal it was a scam attempt at theft.

Keep Information Hidden From Potential Thieves

Any requests for information from financial institutions with which you do business will never ask for account names or other information. When you receive an email asking you to log onto the bank's secure server through the included link, forward the email to the bank's fraud reporting email. The best methods of avoiding identity theft is never send important information over the internet since there is no guarantee of the recipient being who they claim to be.

Your identity can be used to get financing for cars, houses and credit cards as well as to make arrangements for a variety of costly items. If you consider the potential for financial loss, avoiding identity theft can become just as important as protecting your wallet and checkbook.

One of the best ways for avoiding identity theft is to take the approach that you never give information to someone you do not know, and never over the telephone or through an unsecured internet address. Learning about the many scams going around on the internet, on the telephone and some even in person, avoiding identity theft is possible.

by: Robert L. Hogan

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