1 in 10 will be the victim of ID theft this year
Identity theft is one of the fastest growing crimes in Colorado and in the US.
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Here's my 8 easy tips to avoid identity theft
- Mail: Have it delivered to/from the post office. Don't have mail delivered to your home mailbox; especially if your mailbox is unsecured.
- Social Security number: Never carry your social security card with you. Be very cautious about giving it out.
- Receipts: Take all your ATM and gas receipts with you. Don't leave them at the gas station or at the ATM machine. Even though many of the gas receipts only have 4 digits of your credit cards, theft experts can still figure out your credit card number.
- Statements and credit card solicitations: Don't just throw them away, shred them before putting them in your trash can.
- Bar codes: Remove the bar codes from magazine and shred them. Again, you would be surprised on what time of information about your identify can be gleaned from these bar codes.
- Credit report: Monitor your report on an annual basis at www.annualcreditreport.com, The sooner your catch errors, the easier it is to get them removed.
- Electronic Keypad signatures: Put the date at the end of your signature when you are signing on an Electronic keypad. (This is an easy thing you can do that will keep your signature from being stolen and used again.)
- Destroy Digital data: When you sell a computer system, a hard drive, or a recordable CD, DVD or backup tape, take extra steps to ensure the data is completely destroyed. Simply deleting the data or reformatting the hard drive is nowhere near enough. Anyone with a little skill can undelete files or recover data from a formatted drive. You can use a product called like ShredXP to make sure that data on hard drives is completely destroyed. For CDs and DVDs, physical break or shatter them.
For even more information, visit the FTC's web site about Identify Theft
Remember, Knowledge is Power
Colorado Springs Real Estate Agent, An Expert You Can Trust
Selling Real Estate in the Colorado Springs area, including Monument, Fountain, Larkspur, Pueblo, Castle Rock, Manitou Springs, Woodland Park, Palmer Lake
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