Financial Solution Services, Inc.: Business 2 Business

How to Use the Internet for Identity Theft Prevention

Identity theft is a nationwide epidemic and the U.S. Department of Justice Statistics states that the crime is passing drug trafficking as the number one crime in America. Do yourself a favor and use the Internet to protect yourself from identity theft. Most ID theft criminals are repeat offenders. ID Analytics white paper research this year showed that in 10%-15% of reported cases, criminals used all true information. And about 85%-90% of cases, the criminals used both real and false information to victimize. However, to be able to use false information, the criminal needs to have some base. Therefore we, as consumers, need to protect our personal information.

Many criminals follow paper trails of sensitive materials on consumers and use names, addresses, social security numbers, and an array of other information to steal a consumer's identity. One way to prevent such paper trails is to switch to online banking and bill pay. To feel more comfortable with online finances, test a service by paying yourself five dollars and reviewing how it works.

When picking passwords for these services, you want to think of "hard-to-guess" ones, using a combination of numbers and lower case and capital letters. Using symbols is ideal as well, if the service allows it. Store your passwords in a safe place and change them every six months or year to avoid password phishing.

Download a good spam blocker that will filter out unknown URLs and do not click unknown links in emails, especially if it is to update your information. Many hackers will send people these emails and happily receive information from the potential victim first hand.

When you upgrade to a new computer, be sure to erase all sensitive information. Wipe out the hard drive and data recovery so that hackers cannot use your old computer to steal your identity. Identity theft costs consumers an average of 300 to 330 hours and can span over years to recover.

Another good tip on protecting your identity is to hire an identity theft monitoring service to keep tabs on your accounts. However, this is not a guarantee against identity theft. Staying on top of your credit score and credit report can also help prevent identity theft. The three credit bureaus allow each individual to access his or her reports once a year. It's best to ask for one report every four months, so you receive three report over the course of one year to help monitor for identity theft.

For those who decide to use paper mail for some bills or other items, use a secure mailbox at both work and home. P.O. Boxes are a good way to secure personal information. If you have a P.O. Box, put this address on your personal checks instead of your home address. And, most importantly, shred all materials that will be discarded.

Take precautions against identity theft and you could save yourself hundreds of hours and dollars on trying to recover from this crime.

Brought to you by Financial Solution Services' Research & Development Team