How to protect yourself from Identity Theft

Identity theft is a thriving business for some people. Here are some ways to protect yourself from this prevalent crime.

Carefully guard your Social Security number and do not give it out under any circumstances unless you know exactly who and why you need to give it out.

Do not give out personal information including your address or phone number unless you know who and why you are giving it out.

Do not give information out over the phone until you verify exactly who is asking you for this information.

Guard your pin numbers on your credit and debit cards.

Often all that is required to verify a credit card purchase online is your address again guard this carefully.

Do not give out your maiden name or your parents and grandparents first names. Do not give up the town you were born in or went to school in either. Often this information is asked for by banks to prove that you are you. If someone else gets this information your account can be cleaned out in a matter of minutes. Be careful what you put on your social networking sites as these sites are a free haven for identity thieves.

Do not even open suspicious e-mails simply delete them or hit the spam button on your e-mail.

Put yourself on the "do not call" registry.

Eliminate as much junk mail as possible in your snail mail.

Use caller ID and teach your children to do the same. If you do not know the caller do not give out any information. If they ask what number this is make them tell you, after all, they just dialed the number didn't they?

Teach your children not to give out personal information. Often thieves will ask children for this information after they have the parents information.

Shred all personal papers and keep those that are required to be kept in a safe or safety deposit box.

Be aware of your surroundings when using an ATM card or your Credit Card at an ATM machine. IF there are others lurking nearby and its an ATM that is out of the way, perhaps you should go to a more public ATM where you will be better protected.

Pull your credit report twice yearly. Check it for accuracy and if there is anything on it that is inaccurate make the appropriate steps to correct it immediately (instructions for this process are in your credit report).