You have definitely heard of identity theft.
It is fast becoming a very serious crime that has alerted various governments all over the globe.
Different laws have been passed to protect the consumers from identity theft as well as to clearly define the punishments that will be received by these identity thieves.
While everyone has heard about it, not everyone is doing enough to safeguard themselves from identity theft.
Some have not yet done anything, although some have taken the necessary courses of action to minimize the risk of them being prey to these identity thieves.
People who have not done anything at the moment can definitely expect that they will be next in line for identity thieves.
The statistics about identity theft is not very promising.
It is outright scary thus, I refuse to mention it in this article.
However, I will be discussing with you simple steps that you can take to combat identity theft and protect yourself.
1.
Dispose important papers, documents and mails that you don't have any use for but contain valuable information about yourself.
You can invest in paper shredders which are readily available in various shops.
There are a lot of models and types available to suit your budget.
Credit card receipts and statements, bank statements, and pre-approved credit card offers should be shredded before they are disposed.
Expired credit cards also need to be torn down to pieces before they are thrown out of the trash.
Be wary of the things that you dispose and how the information in these 'garbage' can be used to steal your identity.
2.
If anyone is standing too close to you when you are on an ATM machine, nicely ask them to take a few steps backward.
They can be 'shoulder surfers' who can be very good with memorizing your PIN number as you key it in.
3.
Take a hike and pick up your checks from your banks.
This would eliminate the chances that identity thieves might stole it before you can actually see that it was delivered into your mailbox.
Likewise, if you're going to send a check, do not simply put it in the mailbox.
Take another hike to the post office and send it from there.
4.
If you have, for instance, 10 credit cards, discard those that you haven't used in the past six months or more.
Worth mentioning also that you should avoid bringing all your ten credit cards when you're out shopping or on a picnic.
You don't have a use for them anyway.
5.
Avoid giving out your personal information about the phone.
No legitimate company will call you to ask you to "verify your account information with them.
" Most often, what these companies do is send you a mail indicating that they need "these" personal information from you and you can write them out and reply using the same method-snail mail.
Rarely would you find companies who do these processes online or over the phone.