Who is less vulnerable than Superman? No one… That is why preventing identity theft like Superman will make you virtually bulletproof. There will always be a form of ID Kryptonite, but you can do many things to prevent the treacherous identity theft debacle. You should know that there are a few extra steps you want to take to help protect your identity. You want to bullet-proof yourself like a superhero so these evil villains can't get to your private and financial information. Some of these might seem like common sense, yet it's important to implement ALL of them:
· Photocopy everything in your wallet, front and back. Make sure you have all of the necessary 800 numbers to all your credit cards and your licenses. If you have your wallet stolen, you'll be able to call every company right away.
· Don't let other people have access to your private accounts. That means that when you're online, you need to only access your accounts when you're on your private computer. Have a strong anti-virus, anti-spyware and firewall installed. Also, if you're using any kind of router, you need to make sure that it's password protected and change that password monthly to keep potential hackers guessing.
· When it comes to any of your financial accounts, you need to make sure to change the passwords frequently and keep identity thieves from getting into your information.
· If you have a P.O. Box, put that address on your checks and if you have a work phone number, put that on your checks as well. Don't risk letting identity thieves get their hands on any more information about you than they need to.
· When you're making credit card payments by check, only put the last four digits of your account number on them. There is no need to put your full credit card number on your payment check. Including any more just makes it easy for thieves to get a hold of your credit card information.
· You also need to avoid signing the back of your credit card. Instead, write "photo I.D. required".
· You may be thinking this is not that important and so here are some statistics included to drive home the importance:
A study found 35% to 50% of people discover they have been a victim within three months. You might be thinking that three months is a long time to let someone steal from you, but here's another statistic that might blow your mind…
Then another 10% to 20% of victims don't even figure it out for two more years!
That equates to 1 to 2 MILLION Americans going about their lives for 2 years with their financial information stolen and taken advantage of and they don't even know it.
That is a lot of money and financial and personal information that's being used by other people. I hope you take the time to do these simple tasks. Preventing Identity Theft is possible, it just takes a little advanced planning.
Those are the building blocks to ensure your financial life is not impacted. To learn even more tips on preventing identity theft, visit:
Jeremy Maher is the founder of the Credit Repair Doctor and he is currently offering a free video presentation that you can get instant access to here:
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