Simple Identity Theft Protection

How many of you bank, shop, or transact other business online? There are at least 4 million Department pf Defense employees that access their pay records online only. Even offline, stored financial data can be placed at risk in computers that are used on the Internet as well. As one of the fastest growing crimes in America, identity theft is a concern for everyone.

A criminal gaining access to your bank or credit card accounts or personal information can wreak havoc with your credit and leave you holding the bag. Protecting your personal data at home and online is not too painful and lowering your risk for a reasonable effort level is well worth it.

Before we tackle the computer and online environment, let's take a quick look at your other home risks. Your garbage can and mail box are prime targets for identity thieves. Bills, old checks, financial statements, credit offers, the list goes on. All of these documents need to be shredded with a crosscut shredder before discarding and mail should never be left in the mail box for long. Arrange for someone to pickup mail if you are going to gone from your home for more than a day. In short, anything with your full name combined with any other sensitive information should be shredded before discarding.

Phishing and social engineering are methods to get you to divulge your data to a criminal by making you believe the criminal represents an organization or interest with access or rights to your information. Any phone call you receive from someone requesting your personal information or credit card numbers should be suspect. Request a way to call them back via the organization's published numbers and verify the number is associated with the organization before proceeding. Suspect good deals that come to you out of the blue via the telephone or any other method. If it sounds too good to be true, it probably is.

Now for your computer, there are a few things you should do here. Your online activities pose the greatest risk. You need a hardware, or good software firewall. You need good Anti-Virus and Anti-Spyware software. The software versions will need regular updates to keep ahead of the hackers out there.

You also need to take some precautions with your own personal online and offline habits. Online, you should use different, complex passwords for each identity related account you access. You should set your browser security settings as high as possible for general surfing and avoid clicking advertising links from unknown vendors, or links in emails that come from unknown senders or are out of character for the known sender. Never follow links sent via email purporting to be from your creditors or financial institutions asking you to validate your account information. Call them instead, if you believe it is valid. Most financial or credit organizations will never send you an email unless you have asked to receive account updates. The last thing you need to be aware of online is who you are doing business with. Be careful about providing your credit card numbers online. While ensuring the site is secure is absolutely the bare minimum, ensuring the vendor is honest and keeps your data secure is necessary too.

Offline, you should secure any financial, health, insurance, or other documents containing your personal information by using encryption and password protection. Most financial software packages have this feature built in. Use it as well as Windows encrypted folders to make your private data secure from undetected Spyware, or short term physical access to your computer by a criminal. Don't use Windows auto-logon features and always use complex passwords that are at least eight characters long, contain numbers, letters, and both upper and lower case. Never use a common word, name, or other easily guessed password. Something like T8$f~lly can be easy to remember, though very hard to guess and extremely time consuming to hack. Finally, change all of your passwords frequently and use a secure password manager to keep them organized.

The last thing you need to do is monitor your accounts and credit. Keep on eye on your financial account activities and your credit record. If you notice something amiss, call the financial organization or credit reporting agency and report it, change your passwords and pat yourself on the back for catching it early.

My own Yahoo account was recently compromised. While this wasn't a costly identity theft situation, it did put my name on some rather unsavory low-level spam operations. A password change was all that was needed to shut down the activity.

Follow the directions I've provided and you will lower your risk of identity theft and fraud related debts to almost zero. Keep in mind that if you have Bill Gate's level of assets, you are in a different class of high risk targets and should hire a security team to manage those risks and lower your insurance rates. You can also call me and I'd be happy to help you put that together. ;-)

Lyle Sharp - President Advotech, LLC
A small to medium business IT services provider that specializes in affordable secure systems and practices.
http://www.advotechllc.com

---

Credit Cards For People With Bad Credit Scores

Sometimes life lands you in a situation that causes your... Read More

Figuring Out the Ever Nebulous Numbers Called Credit Scores

Credit Score FactorsThe information contained on our credit reports affect... Read More

Identity Theft - Dont Think You Are Immune

As identity theft becomes more prevalent, the need to regularly... Read More

How Healthy Is Your Credit

There's only one way to discover the "health" of your... Read More

How to Order the Right Credit Reports to Repair Your Own Credit

In this week's article, I am going to offer some... Read More

7 Compelling Reasons Why A Prepaid Debit Card May Be Just The Financial Tool You Need

Prepaid debit cards are great financial tools and may be... Read More

What Does Your Credit Say About You?

A credit report is more than just a snapshot of... Read More

Credit Repair Myths and Facts

There are no secrets to repairing your credit. Many shady... Read More

The Hitchhiker?s Guide To Insanity

A new sickness is plaguing the UK called Denial. Denial... Read More

Keep Your Credit History Clean - Remove A Negative Credit Record From Credit Report

The three major credit bureaus, Experian, Equifax and Trans Union... Read More

Taking Control of Your Credit History

Your credit history is important; in fact, in this day... Read More

What Happens When Your Credit Is Damaged? Do You Have Recourse?

The good thing about bad credit is that you can... Read More

What You Need to Know About Credit Reports

You hear people talk about credit reports all the time... Read More

How To Read Your Credit Report

The Fair and Accurate Credit Transactions Act, signed into law... Read More

How To Save Money On Credit Cards

Some credit cards offer a cash advance option. But how... Read More

How Businesss Mess Up Their Credit Policies

In "Become the Squeaky Wheel" a book recently published, Michelle... Read More

Commercial Collections And Credit Granting

It is estimated that billions of dollars in delinquent commercial... Read More

5 Steps You Can Take to Get Paid!

There are always some companies that have past due invoices... Read More

Bankruptcy vs. Credit Counseling: What Should I Do?

Credit Counseling and bankruptcy are both ways to relieve the... Read More

How To Avoid Becoming A Victim of Identity Theft

With identity theft statistics currently at an all time high,... Read More

Credit Report Disaster Through Mistaken Identity

I've got some very important info I want you to... Read More

Credit Reports ? Why Your Credit Score is Important

If you have never heard of a FICO score before,... Read More

Learn The Truth About Identity Theft

Identity theft is the fastest growing crime in America, according... Read More

Low Interest Credit Cards Have Many Advantages

When credit cards are used wisely they can be very... Read More

Which Business Credit Cards with Reward are the Best?

Thinking of applying for a credit card with a reward... Read More

SuperCharged Secret 2, Credit Card Utopia

INTEREST BEWARE, THERE'S SAFETY IN NUMBERS!Note: The following is part... Read More

Credit Score: The Brightest Feather In Your Financial Cap

Credit scores are the most important aspect that determines your... Read More

Building Business Credit

Most businesses want to be able to borrow money when... Read More

How to Evaluate and Raise Your Credit Score

Why do some people get offers for pre-approved credit cards... Read More

Types of Credit Cards

There are a whole variety of different types of credit... Read More

How Do I Establish A Good Line of Credit?

A line of credit, roughly defined, is the amount of... Read More

Building Your Credit History

Today, credit is an indispensable part of our lives. In... Read More

A Summary of the Fair Credit Reporting Act

This summary of the Fair Credit Reporting Act will explain... Read More