Identity Theft Victim: How To Avoid Identity Theft

Author: Andy Mitchel | Filed under: Identity Theft Recovery | Tags: identity theft victim | No Comments »

For identity theft criminals, Americans can often be easy targets. The reason is generally due to the blatant disregard and lack of awareness displayed by identity theft victims. Whatever the circumstances may be, the result is destroyed credit and a loss of funds from savings and checking accounts. However, this can all be prevented by taking the necessary steps to protect their identity.

One aspect of identity theft protection is understanding the nature of thieves. In order for a thief to get his or her hands on your money, they will need in their possession a minimum of two items. This could be a combination of an account number and photo ID, for example.

Because women keep these items in their purse most of the time, they are often victims especially when they don’t keep an eye on their purse. An example of this is when a woman is at a restaurant and leaves her purse to go to the salad bar or bathroom. The thief then enters and grabs the woman’s purse without her noticing until it’s too late. Next, a female accomplice is provided the victim’s ID and checkbook by the thief. The accomplice then writes a check to herself and disguises herself to appear similar to the identity theft victim. Then, the criminals run away with the money.

Next, the thief can go to local businesses and open credit accounts, spend money until the maximum credit limit is reached, and then leave. Meanwhile, the identity theft victim is billed for all of the goods and services purchased within the next month. Should the victim not pay, it will be reported to the credit bureaus by the merchant.

While women might be a bit more prone to being identity theft victims, men are not exempt. Men have had their wallets pick-pocketed by thieves. However, men for the most part don’t take checkbooks with them because of their size, which means that thieves are not able to get bank account information even if they get a wallet. If the appearance of the victim and thief are similar enough, then credit accounts could be opened under the victim’s name.

Tips To Avoid Being Victimized

Leave your checkbook at home. When paying bills through the mail, checks can be very convenient. But when making every day purchases, they are not necessary when you can either pay with cash, a credit card, or a debit card.

When at a social event or public place such as a restaurant, women should make sure they don’t leave their purses unsupervised. Identity thieves can be anyone, such as a bus body, a waitress, stranger, and so on. It only takes seconds for a purse to be stolen.

Write down your credit card numbers in a notebook and have the credit card companies phone numbers on hand and place it in a safe place in your home. If your credit card is stolen, then you can quickly and easily call and cancel your card. Also, check and be sure you know which number to call when contacting your credit card companies.