10 Ways to Protect Yourself From Identity Theft

5. Read your bank and credit card statements. Question anything you don’t recognize. Some companies charge by a corporate name rather than their retail name. There is no harm in calling and questioning a company you don’t recognize. In some cases, like when charging over the internet, the company will inform you under what name you will find that charge on your credit card. The first time I signed my children up for soccer online, I figured the charge would come under the league name. When I got my credit card I saw a name I did not recognize. I looked up the phone number and called the company listed on the statement. As soon as they answered the phone I realized who the company was. Better safe than sorry. Credit card statements sometimes show shortened forms of the company names. Keep all transaction receipts and match them up to your credit card statement. If you order online, print out your receipt.

Image via Wikipedia

6. Do not post personal information like address and phone number to your “friends” on the internet. If they can see it, anyone can.

7. Request and review your credit report every year. This way you will be able to see if unknown accounts have been opened in your name.

8. If you are a home owner, having a lien on your house could be beneficial. A lien is a loan using your house as collateral. Though no one wants to be in debt, having a lien (such as a line of credit) will prevent anyone from borrowing money in your name.

9. Do not give ANY information to so-called telemarketers or credit card companies who call you. Ask them for their phone number and call them back to see if they are legitimate or a scammer calling from his home or cell phone. And don’t be fooled by a female voice; thieves are women too. Having call display on your phone can help. I don’t answer calls where there is no company name accompanying an unknown phone number displayed.

The same goes for people who come to your door. One day recently a man came to my door claiming to be from an energy company, that he would check my hot water heater for free and if there were problems he would book a maintenance appointment for a later date. I was not familiar with the name of the company he named which was also displayed on his picture ID. I said, “I don’t know you and I’m not letting you into my house.” (Letting a stranger into your house could also be dangerous to your physical safety.)  After I closed the door I thought, my hot water heater is a rental from my gas company. If anyone was going to service my hot water heater it would be my gas company and they would phone first to set an appointment. Gas companies rarely call you randomly. It’s hard enough getting service from them when you NEED it. I should have noted the name of the company the man claimed to be working for and reported it.

10. Keep your checkbook in a safe place, especially cancelled checks where your signature can be copied. My name on my checks does not appear in its complete form, but I sign my checks using my full name. That is the signature the bank has on file, but someone stealing my blank checks would not know that. I never sign anything other than legal documents with this signature. Anything else I just use my first initial and last name – like school permission forms.

If you follow these preventative steps you will be protecting yourself from identity theft.