Welcome to “Stop-IdentityTheft101″
Identity theft is one of the fastest growing crimes in modern society. New ways that criminals are getting their hands on your personal, private informational are discovered almost daily.
One of worst attributes of this class of crimes is that many times you do not discover that you are a victim until you are notified by your credit card company or another financial institution that something unusual has occured. Often times when a crime is discovered the damage to your credit rating or the actual monitary loss is already substantial.
The information thieves are looking for is such things as;
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Social Security Numbers
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Drivers Lisence Numbers
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Credit Card Numbers
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Bank Account Numbers
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Birthdates
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Mothers Maiden Name
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Passwords
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Almost any other information that can identify you, and that you thought was private.
How do they obtain this information?
- Hackers try to get into your computer
- They use email “phishing scams” to ask you for information
- They try to hack into credit infomation data bases at retailers and government agencies
- They steal medical information from hospitals and Doctors offices
- They steal mail from mailboxes
- They call people on the phone, using any number of scams they ask for your information
- They may come to your door asking for information
How can you protect yourself from identity theft?