Protect Your Personal Information

Have you or someone you know ever been a victim of identity theft? You can’t completely control whether you will become a victim, but you can take steps to lessen the risk.You need to take actions to minimize the outside access to your personal information on your computer. I see those commercials on television and chuckle, but it really does happen all the time and it can be very scary if it happens to you.

I also would advise you to shred every thing with your account numbers and social security numbers before putting in the trash. Even though credit card companies have gotten better about your protection identity theft and stolen credit cards are still very wide spread, they don’t have to have the card just the number so be very careful that you are ordering from legit sites when purchasing online.

These are a few signs to consider unexplained charges or withdrawals from your financial accounts; Your bills and other mail stop arriving (the thief may have submitted a change of address); a credit application is denied for no apparent reason, or debt collectors begin calling about merchandise or services you didn’t buy.

A few things you can do to help protect your personal information.

· You should update virus protection software frequently. Consider setting your virus protection software to update automatically. The Windows XP operating system also can be set to check for patches automatically and download them to your computer.

· Not opening files sent to you by strangers, clicking on hyperlinks, or downloading programs from people or companies you don’t know.

· Using a firewall program, especially if you use a high speed Internet connection like cable or DSL that leaves your computer connected to the Internet 24 hours a day. I personally use the free version of Zone Alarm.

· Providing your personal or financial information through an organization’s secured website only. While not fool proof, a lock icon on the browser’s status bar or a URL for a website that begins “https:” (the “s” stands for secure), may provide additional security.

· Not storing your financial information on your laptop, unless it’s absolutely necessary. Which I never do.

· Deleting all the personal information stored on a computer before disposing of it. A wipe” utility program to overwrite the entire hard drive is recommended.

· Checking with an anti-fraud education organization such as CardCops (www.cardcops.com). Card Cops runs a web site designed to help consumers determine whether their credit card numbers may have been stolen. They monitor Internet “chat rooms” where identity thieves illicitly trade and sell stolen credit card numbers. CardCops turns the information over to law enforcement authorities, but also allows consumers to access their database to see whether individual card numbers may have been stolen. In the first two months of operation, the site identified more than 100,000 stolen credit cards.

Those are a few great tips and should help minimize your outside risks.You never know when you could be a victim. It doesn’t just happen to other people.

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