Your Solution to Identity Theft

Do you know that someone may be using your credit card as you read this? I don't mean to provoke paranoia, but it is a likely possibility. Oh, you just checked your wallet/purse and they are all accounted for? You are good then, right? Wrong.

My credit is pretty solid, so like most of us, I get about five credit card applications per week begging me to participate in financing the American way.via credit cards. Well, I already have a couple credit cards I am indebted to, so these providers will have to take a number. I will just tear up the application and discard it into the trash. You know what? Sometimes I am particularly cautious and tear it into multiple pieces; no one will be able to piece it back together now, right? Wrong.

I came across this site while doing some research; I think it is pretty interesting and enlightening.

Who wants to be you?

All those times I tore up my applications into pieces I was foolish enough to think a rogue would not go through all that trouble to attempt to piece it back together. I guess I figured thieves are on the lower level of the evolutionary process and would not be able to complete the task or they are just too plain lazy to embark on the endeavor. I was being the stupid and lazy one.

Stealing mail ranked fifth among the most common methods of committing identity fraud in 2005. Oh, this was probably just a figure conjured up by some computer security business to aid in selling their product. Nope. This figure comes from the Better Business Bureau.

Prevention

Most of us feel comfortable leaving mail out for the postal worker to collect, but we should really deposit articles in a secure mail box. Most of us feel safe tearing mail in half and throwing it in the trash can when we should really be shredding our mail. In the case of businesses, they should be using a shredding service.

I know that it is an extra step, and in a perfect world it should not be a concern- well, it is. The following provides some tips to help in avoiding being one of the new victims of identity theft created every 79 seconds:

- Purchase a locking mailbox. Never leave outgoing mail unsecured; drop it in a box or bring it to the post office
- Remove delivered mail ASAP. If you will be away, ask a neighbor or relative to get your mail or contact the post office about holding onto it.
- Buy a home shredder that cross-cuts
- Shred or cut all expired credit cards and identification cards
- Remove your name from "pre-approved" credit card lists. Call 1 888 5 OPTOUT or do it online at https://www.optoutprescreen.com/
- Remove your name national contact lists online at http://www.dmaconsumers.org. There is a $5 fee or you can write to them and be removed for free: Mail Preference Service, PO Box 9008, Farmingdale, NY 11735-9008
- Immediately report changes in address

Conclusion Some people have asked us, "What should I shred?" We suggest anything and everything that has any of your information on it or your signature, which amounts to just about everything! Buying a home shredder is one of the most cautious things you can do to avoid identity theft and businesses are strongly urged to contact a secure shredding service.