The crime of ID theft is a large and rapidly growing issue. With tens of millions of identities being stolen in the last year, you must do what you can to ensure that you do not fall victim to this terrible crime.
There are a few things that you can do to reduce the probability of falling victim to ID theft. Probably the easiest thing to do is to just use your common sense. Protect your important personal info and do not give it to anybody unless there is a good reason to do so.
You need to make a regular habit of checking your credit bureau report to ensure that there has not been any unauthorized use of your credit. If you are aware of what should appear on your credit report, then it is very easy to see if there has been any criminal activity with your social security number.
You can also use identity theft fraud protection to reduce the exposure to the chance of having your identity stolen. Identity theft prevention is a speciality of a few reputable companies. ID theft protection services use a fraud alert on credit report to alert you anytime someone attempts to start a new line of credit using your social security number.
These identity theft solutions also eliminate a lot of junk mail, which includes offers of new credit. Mail theft is one way criminals steal your identity, this reduces the chance criminals can use mail to steal your identity.
Also, ID theft services monitor the black market and online activity for any criminal use or trading of your personal information. Thieves will often trade your personal information, such as your social security number and name and address, which is then used to steal your identity. This is a great reason you need to look into using an identity theft alert.
The average ID theft victim spends 600 hours and thousand of dollars to repair their credit. Through the use of an identity theft prevention company, you are doing your part to make sure you do not become an identity theft victim. To get more information about these services, you can read about stolen identity protection.