I have spoken to many of my clients in the past couple of weeks who have had their identity stolen by online thieves. I believe that my clients should take strict measures to protect their individual lives as well as their family in future. There are a number of tips that have been generated by the Federal Trade Commission which I offer you as some guidance:
- Treat trash and mail carefully and do not disregard any items with your social security number on it.
- Protect your social security number by not taking it with you in your wallet and leave it in a save place at home unless needed.
- Be very careful on the internet not to go into “shady” sites and give them personal information.
- Please select an intricate password that does not align with your date of birth, spouse’s name or your favorite pets.
- Please verify sources before sharing your personal information with them by visiting the Better Business Bureau and making sure the business is legitimate.
Finally, please store any personal information in a secure location. I have a safe in my residence to protect my valuable documents such as insurance policies, wills and things of that nature. Please consider identity theft protection which is offered by a number of agencies in your area.
Please visit the Federal Trade Commission’s Identity Theft Site : http://www.ftc.gov
I hope this helps people get their hands around a very difficult situation and if you had your identity stolen you need to contact the local author whether it is your local police department or sheriff’s department.
