OK, so you’ve heard stories about people stealing other’s identities, emptying bank accounts, opening credit cards and saddling people with large amounts of debt. Let’s get something straight; yes this does happen of course, but if you pay attention to the news, it’s always with this weird technical slant. They push it as if some black hat is hacking your online banking session, which unfortunately, isn’t when most identity theft takes place.
Identity theft is a terrible, terrible crime that gets the reputation of being easy to do. Do you want to know how people do it? For the low tech guys, people rummage through your trash cans, steal your purse, or just look up government records, swipe a signature to copy, and put two and two together. To stop this is easy. Really, as with anything, you’ve just got to change your habits. Do you own a paper shredder? You don’t? Well you should. If you shred everything that could be the least bit sensitive before tossing it in the trash or recycling, you’d never have to worry about someone with a roll of tape getting to your bills.
Secondly, be careful who you give your information to, especially if it’s your social security number. This is YOUR number! The only people who will ever need it are the government, your employer, your insurance company, your school, and maybe a hospital. Don’t give this out if you can help it. Try to use a driver’s license number instead. Lastly, if you can, go paperless. The less paper, the less chance that some stranger can end up with your information.
Now, for a bit of reality in this digital age, there are hackers that can and will steal your identity. For them, it’s just as simple as taking the information out of your trash can. Protect yourself online by not going to websites you aren’t supposed to, and make sure where you do go, is in fact where you want to go. When ever there is sensitive information, encrypt everything. That’s what that little closed padlock symbol and the ‘https:” is in front of major websites. If you don’t see those, don’t go there. In fact, many websites that require logins work just as well if you change ‘http’ to ‘https’ in the URL, so do it. Also, make sure you use secure passwords. Yes they can be hard to remember, but there are software solutions for that since you’re already at the computer.
It is so simple to just keep yourself out of hot water, and it is hot water, mind you. Just pay attention and question everything. Use anonymization services when you can, like Google Checkout or Paypal for payments, or get a disposable debit or credit card from you bank or card provider. Whatever you do, you need to trust your instincts and know where everything that has you personal information comes from and where it goes.
Originally posted 2009-10-31 10:29:17.
