With tough financial times upon us, everyone’s fighting to keep their jobs and identity thieves are no exception. The golden days of stealing a tossed-out credit card application and turning into a real credit card for the thief are gone. Credit card companies are making their approval processes more stringent and now even legitimate consumers are being denied. Unfortunately, just like everyone else, the thieves are working lots of overtime to compensate for this, so it’s more important than ever to safeguard our financial health.
I found this out the hard way recently when I learned that someone had access to my debit card, checking account, cell phone account, and that most likely, that same someone was trying to get my social security number by calling my employer for a so-called “employment verification.” After more than a few moments of panic and taking the necessary steps to try to correct my situation, I did some research to find out how to make some permanent changes so that this (hopefully) never happens again.
Buy a shredder—and shred even the documents that aren’t a security risk.
It didn’t take long for me to figure out that my thieves probably found their initial information on me by dumpster diving. I’d been smart enough to spend hours cutting through account numbers, credit card offers, and anything with my social security number on it into tiny pieces before throwing it away. But I’d carelessly thrown away mail that had my full name, address, and employer name on it. (Hence, that employment verification call.) Make an investment in a shredder and shred absolutely everything that has any personal information on it—even if it’s just your name—before throwing it away. This will decrease your chances of becoming a target.
Stop receiving paper statements.
Cut down on your shredding time by setting up online accounts with all of your creditors and banks. Thieves only need a minimal amount of your personal information to have all your mail forwarded to an address of their choice. Stopping paper statements will help ensure that they’ve got very little to work with should they ever gain access to your mail. Plus, you’ll be helping the environment. Keep your mailbox tidy by opting out of credit card offers and other junk mail.
