There are few things worse in life than waking up one day to find that your identity is not just your own, in fact, someone else has decided they want to be you as well. They have stolen your identity and intend to make the most of it, to your own detriment. The best defense against identity theft is to know what you can do to prevent it in the first place. You are never really, out of the woods, but you can take steps that will help you prevent and catch identity theft, if it were to occur.

One great way to start protecting yourself is with LifeLock. LifeLock is a revolutionary program that helps protect you, your name, and your social security number from identity thieves. How does this work? Well, essentially the program is designed to work with your credit report. We all know that when you (or someone pretending to be you) apply for any type of credit, the credit bureaus will be the first ones contacted to see where your credit currently stands. LifeLock contacts the credit bureaus and puts your information on "Fraud Alert". From then on, every ninety days, the program continues to do put your credit report on fraud alert.

The program works, because it keeps on top of things. It will make requests, on your behalf, to remove your name from lists such as junk mail or pre-approved credit card applications. If these things are not arriving in your mailbox, you are reducing your chance of identity theft dramatically. Additionally, you will receive a free, yearly credit report right to your mailbox. This allows you to monitor your report for any odd instances and report them immediately. Now the best part, besides the fact that they help you protect yourself, is that all of this is backed by a $1,000,000 guarantee. If, while on the program, your identity were to be stolen, they will help you recover what you have lost and put your credit back on the right track. This means the best lawyers, case managers, accountants, and investigators. What could be better?

If a program like LifeLock is not for you, there are still some things you can do to help reduce your chances of becoming an identity theft victim. Even if you are on LifeLock, you still need to take steps to protect your information.

1. Protect Your Mail: Incoming and Outgoing, keep track of it. Lock your mailbox or ensure that someone is picking up your mail for you, if you are to be away.

2. Protect Yourself Online: Use software programs to protect yourself from viruses and spyware. Shop with websites that are secure and that you trust. Watch for phishers or fake websites designed to get your information, and make sure that you use encryption for wireless internet.

3. Protect Your Garbage: Make sure that you properly dispose of your important documents. This means shred or burn items such as paycheck stubs, bills, tax related forms, expired credit cards, expired visa, expired passport, voided checks, canceled checks, ATM receipts, credit card offers, and statements.

4. Don't Give Away Your Social Security Number

5. Report a Credit Card that has been Lost or Stolen

6. Be Leery of Telephone Calls

7. Always carefully look over your bank statements

8. Always carefully look over your credit card statements

9. Always carefully look over your bills

10.Check Credit Reports at least Yearly

11.Safeguard your ATM Pin Number

 

 

By knowing how to protect yourself, you can stop identity theft right in its tracks.

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copyright 2007 KC Dynamics Inc. All Rights Reserved.

tags: credit reports how to protect your identity identity theft identity theft prevention identity thieves internet identity theft life lock social security identity theft social security number