The crime of identity theft is probably one of the fastest growing crimes of this century. The reason for that is because far too many people make it way to EASY to have themselves be a victim of identity theft, and they do not take the task of protecting themselves against identify theft seriously enough.
What happens in a case of identity theft? Basically, the thief “becomes” you, opens loan accounts, charge cards, and credit cards in your name, then disappears into the sunset, never to be seen again. In the meantime, the first that you become aware of it is when you start getting calls from lenders and creditors that you have never heard of and where you “know” you do not have an account, asking when you going to start making payments or is there a problem? But by then, it is far too late.
Let’s back up a step. How does identity theft occur? Identity theft occurs when a third becomes you. That is done by a thief going through your trash and coming up with something that has your unique identifiers on it. If you have decent or good credit, you probably get these pre-approved cards in the mail all the time for credit cards and loan accounts. What do you do with these offers? Do you simply throw them in the trash? If so, you are putting yourself at risk for identify theft, as much of America does. Instead, invest in a small shredder, probably under $50 at Best Buy, Circuit City, or your local office supply store, and shred documents such as those. Anything that has identifiable information on it other than “Occupant” goes into the shredder.
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