Your identity and personal information are valuable to criminals.How to Prevent Identity Theft
If they get hold of details such as your full name, address, date of birth, phone number as well as credit card details or bank account numbers, they may be able to steal your identity.
Celebrities such as Beyonce, Jay-Z and Britney Spears have had their private details stolen and posted online. If it can happen to them, could it happen to you?
Identity theft is one of the most alarming, yet under-discussed problems affecting people in the United States. The Bureau of Justice Statistics claimed in 2012 that approximately 7% of people aged 16 or older were identity theft victims. Even worse, identity thieves target children too.
We are all at risk…
100 million consumers were exposed to identity theft risks after the payment system database was breached and debit and credit card information got exposed.
Forget the technical stuff, you do realize the victims were only victimized because they shopped at Target? This is a big-box store that had as much trust as Wal-Mart at the time. Before then, you never would have thought there was a risk when using your credit card in a local store.
That means we are all at risk. And it’s clear that with a third of America’s population being exposed to the Target security breach, there isn’t anything we can do to save ourselves from identity theft.
But, identity theft sucks…and you don’t want to deal with the possibility of 500+ hours and over $3,000 to recover if you do get targeted.
So, you do need to do something to prevent yourself from becoming a victim!
We have a lot to say, but here’s what we’ll cover:
Contents
- 1 100 Ways You Can Prevent Identity Theft
- 1.1 How to Prevent Identity Theft Completely
- 1.2 How to Prevent: Student Identity Theft
- 1.3 How to Prevent: Child Identity Theft
- 1.4 How to Prevent: Identity Theft Outside the U.S.
- 1.5 How to Prevent: Identity Theft on Social Networks & More
- 1.6 How to Prevent: Business Identity Theft
- 1.7 How to Recover From an Identity Theft
- 1.8 The Top 3 Identity Theft Companies
While these tips are in sections, keep in mind most will apply for everyone!
Now, before we get started there’s one question to cover…
How Do You Prevent Identity Theft?
No matter your situation, and your professional background, nothing will decisively prevent identity thieves from making you a target. Whether rich or poor, your identity is of value to criminals. As such, you must adhere by a profound set of defense methods to ensure that your identity remains yours. And if you don’t have identity theft protection, we reviewed the 10 best companies you can use.
To protect yourself further, check out FraudsWatch’s insane list of Most Common Ways to prevent identity theft from crushing you!
