Identity theft is a terrible crime and it happens to thousands of people around the country every day. With the onslaught of technology and the sophistications of the identity theft industry, you can often fall into a trap without even knowing it’s right in front of you. The best way to protect yourself and your families are to follow a few easy tips that can protect you from identity theft criminals and the mind-blowing damage they can cause both emotionally and financially.
1. Protect your pieces of identity.
It’s important to protect the items that share your identity. This includes you social security card, your state identification, your work identification, your car registration and insurance cards, your birth certificate, stocks, bonds, investments, banking information, credit information, vital records and anything else that can be used to gain more information about you to use against you. If you are a mother, or even a single parent, you likely carry the same information for your children. They are most vulnerable because they have not yet entered the credit world and though their date of birth will be accessible to potential creditors, it is often not checked. You should only keep copies of your social security, vital records and all investment or banking information in your home. These should be kept in a fire-proof safe that is bolted to the floor of a closet or secured to the house in some other way. The originals should all be in a safety deposit box with a bank you can trust.
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