Identity theft statistics are quoted frequently today, often confusing and scaring more than helping. At least part of the complication is created because government statistics combine two different problems: payment fraud and identity theft.

Payment fraud is what happens when someone uses your credit card, ATM or bank account number without your authorization. While this is inconvenient, it is usually quickly rectified with a phone call to your financial institution and filling out a form or affidavit.

Identity theft, however, is an entirely different matter, usually involving new accounts opened in your name that may be difficult to track or identify in the first place. Here are the statistics on identity theft:

* “New account” identity theft costs over $25 billion in losses to the victims each year. Source: FTC
* Of the new accounts that get opened by identity thieves, approximately half are credit card accounts, but cell phone accounts, utility accounts, bank accounts and apartment rentals are also important targets for identity thieves. Source: FTC
* Americans between the age of 18-29 are the most likely to be the victims of identity theft. Source: FTC
* In cases where individuals know who stole their identity info, it turns out to be someone they know 50 percent of the time. Source: Javelin Group
* Identity thieves get plenty of lead time: Identity theft victims typically don’t discover their information has been stolen until 12 months after a thief first used it. Source: Javelin Group
* Identity theft victims who detected the crime by monitoring their accounts online had average loses of $551. Identity theft victims who relied on monitoring paper statements had average loses of $4,543. Source: Javelin Group
* Between Feb 2005 and March 2006 more than 55 million Americans were put at risk by security breaches, leaving them vulnerable to identity theft. Source: Privacy Rights Clearinghouse

How to deal with these alarming facts? The Top 5 Prevention Tips are as follows (my question is, “are these enough?”)

There are some important proactive steps that every consumer can take to safeguard their identity. These top five things everyone should do, or at least know about, to protect themselves and their family from becoming a victim of identity theft.

1. Buy a shredder: Shredding all your personal information before tossing it in the trash will prevent dumpster divers from fishing out your pre-approved credit card offers. Shredders that cut lengthwise and crosswise are ideal as it minimizes the chances that potential thieves can tape your documents back together.

2. Change your passwords monthly: Do you bank online? Or store personal information on your laptop? If so, it would be wise to change your password at least once a month and try to select passwords that will not be obvious to potential hackers (birthday, anniversary, pet name, etc.).

3. Freeze your credit: If your data has been breached (electronically or via dumpster divers), there is not much an identity thief can do if your credit has been frozen… there is no way someone can open a line of credit (credit cards, house/car loans, etc) without access to your credit information, and you can say good-bye to those pesky and potentially dangerous pre-approved credit card offers.

All TrustedID customers have had their credit freeze implemented, as part of their IDFreeze subscription. There are several ways a person can go about freezing their credit, but Suze Orman recommends IDFreeze as the easiest and least time consuming way to do it. Click here to learn more about IDFreeze.

4. Beware of phishing scams: Scam artists “phish” for victims by pretending to be banks, stores or government agencies. They do this over the phone, in emails and in the regular mail. Don’t give out your personal information, unless you made the contact. Don’t respond to a request to verify your account number or password. Legitimate companies do not request this kind of information in this way.

5. Protect your computer from spyware and viruses: Spyware programs can collect many different types of personal information about you like passwords and credit card numbers. Always use firewall, virus and spyware protection software that you update regularly like Norton Internet Security 2006. Only download free software from sites you know and trust.

Source: https://www.trustedid.com/

So if you have any experience on this, kindly discuss here so that we could avoid this problem, which is very alarming these days in view of the above facts.

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