| Identity theft is one of the most common crimes in the | | | | verify information for a specific company. This also |
| world today. Unfortunately, identity theft can be | | | | can work through the use of the telephone. When you |
| devastating to some victims, leaving many with very | | | | question the company about whether they have |
| low credit scores. This can affect their ability to buy a | | | | emailed or called you for verification purposes, you will |
| home or a car in the future, along with other types of | | | | most likely find that they have not. This is the reason |
| things which come along with having good credit. | | | | that you need to be so careful about info that you |
| Overall, identity theft is not something which you will | | | | share both online or on the telephone. You are not |
| want to have to deal with in your future. This is the | | | | always dealing with who you think you are. |
| main reason that learning ways to prevent identity | | | | One common mistake that many people make is not |
| theft from happening to you is so important to your | | | | shredding their mail or credit cards. Garbage picking is |
| financial future and security. | | | | one of the most common ways that identity thieves |
| Although there are many things that you should know | | | | choose their victims. This is why it is so important for |
| if you are interested in how to protect yourself from | | | | you to make sure that you shred all personal |
| identity theft, the most important thing is that you | | | | information before throwing it in the garbage. You can |
| should realize that you should never give out too much | | | | purchase a shredder at your local office supplies store |
| information about yourself. Whether it is on the internet | | | | for about thirty dollars. |
| or on the telephone, you should always know the limit. | | | | Only carrying information which you need in your wallet |
| The general rule of thumb is that you should never tell | | | | is something which you should always think about. |
| anyone on the phone or internet anything that you | | | | Carrying credit cards may be necessary, but chances |
| would not tell a stranger. Giving out sensitive | | | | are that you do not need your social security card at |
| information about yourself, such as your social security | | | | all times. Think about what you really need at the |
| number, is an absolute no-no. The only people who | | | | moment and whether or not you want to risk it if your |
| should ever need your social security number are your | | | | wallet should get stolen. |
| employer, the IRS, the DMV and certain financial | | | | Lastly, you should always remember that the internet |
| institutions which will need it for credit checking | | | | is a very common place for identity theft to occur. The |
| purposes. Nobody else should ever be given it. | | | | main key is not giving out any personal information |
| Another one of the things that you should always | | | | about yourself. You should also not keep anything |
| keep in mind is that people can easily pretend to be | | | | stored anywhere that hackers can find it, whether it is |
| someone that they are not, whether it is on the phone | | | | on your own personal computer documents or if it is |
| or on the internet. One common example is when | | | | an email address that you thought was private. |
| "phishing" emails are sent to you, asking for you to | | | | |