Although the recent film, “Identity Thief” tried (unsuccessfully, I heard) to make humor of this issue, identity theft is a very real problem and can affect just about anyone. Earlier this year, five hackers from Russia and Ukraine were arrested for stealing 160 million credit card numbers and causing hundreds of millions of dollars in losses. Extra care must be taken these days, especially with more and more purchases being done online. Here are a few tips that you should follow to protect yourself:
1) Regularly check your credit score to look for a credit card or loan that you do not recognize.
2) Check your statements every month. While time consuming, this helps ensure there are no unrecognizable charges. Duplicate charges can be found as well and can be fixed by alerting the vendor.
3) When shopping online, be sure the website has a valid address starting with “https://” and you see a padlock on the page showing that this is a secure site.
4) Use your credit card over a debit card. A credit card company usually has consumer protections that do not hold you responsible for the charges you did not make when your card is stolen. When someone has access to your debit card, they can wipe out your entire bank balance.
5) Do not give away any personal information online or over the phone to someone claiming to be from a bank or other financial institution. If you think it may be legitimate, hang up and call the institution back directly to verify they need information.
6) Shred any documents with your personal information on it.
While following these steps does not guarantee you won’t fall victim to identity theft, it is a step in the right direction!
This is a guest post from Emily Fishwick of Numerico, PC. Visit www.numerico.com if you’d like more information about their accounting practice.
