Some Useful Identity Theft Protection Pointers

Identity theft is something that can affect almost everyone – no matter where they live, and regardless of your age, social standing or race and color. Thieves may spare your car and your near and dear ones and may even leave your wallet unaffected because they have another target in mind - your identity. The cases of identity theft continue to mount and companies as well as individuals are losing billions of dollars as a consequence.

Reduce Chances Of Identity Theft Taking Place

It is therefore necessary to learn about some useful tips regarding proper identity theft protection which will help ensure that the chances of having your identity stolen are greatly reduced. The first (and, perhaps simplest tip) is to shred documents containing vital and important information. You need to destroy your outdated credit card statements as well as your bank statements and also medical bills by running these through a shredder that only cost about thirty dollars; but, which can help save you thousands of dollars.

It is very unwise to put your social security card in your wallet and carry it about with you. This identity theft protection tip is extremely important and must be adhered to. It would in fact, be far better for you to lock your social security card somewhere safe – such as in a safety vault. Instead of carrying the social security card with you it would be far better to memorize the number – though not by writing it down on a piece of paper.

Another important identity theft protection tip is to be very careful when submitting your personal details. Identity thieves are very clever and will use all sorts of sophisticated means by which to steal your identity. They could create fancy websites; offer you jobs or even claim to be sending you emails from your bank requesting personal information from you.

Yet another identity theft protection tip that can help save you from becoming a victim of identity theft is to use security envelopes when sending personal information documents through the mail. Such envelopes will ensure that identity thieves will not be able to view the information contained in the documents enclosed in the envelopes.

Lastly, you should also pay attention to another identity theft protection which is to Xerox the contents of your wallet and file the copies away in a safety vault in order to keep a copy of important information contained in your wallet. Such copies will prove to be very important in case you loose your wallet or even when the wallet is stolen.

Credit card fraud too is on the rise and this is another area where you will need to learn about how to prevent such form of fraud. Identity theft can occur in a number of ways and so, even in case you have not given out your personal information; or, you have not had your wallet stolen; identity thieves can (and will) strike in very novel ways to deprive you off your identity. Taking extreme identity theft protection measures is the best way to combat identity thieves.