8 Tips to Prevent Identity Theft

With all the recent news of Credit Card Fraud, the PictureCredit.com editorial staff has put together a list of the top 8 tips to protect yourself from credit card identity theft:

8. Monitor Your Credit Card Statements
In an event that your information has been stolen without your knowledge, one of the best ways to protect yourself in to constantly monitor your credit card statements. Many credit card companies offer online access to your account, where the charges are updated instantly; this is a quick and easy way to stay on top of fraud.

7. Shred Sensitive Documents
Although not immensely prevalent in this day and age of computers, it’s still a good practice to destroy all documents that contain sensitive information that thieves may be able to use to steal your identity; you don’t need papers with your credit card information floating around. Also, most credit card companies offer paperless updates and statements, so there’s no paper copy of your transactions or information and they are emailed to you instead. Do, however, follow the next tip to ensure that your computer is safe:

6. Use Anti-Virus Software on your computer
It’s a little known fact that spyware on your computer is mainly used not to harm your computer, but to glean information that you enter online. Passwords, social security numbers, address, and yes, credit card numbers are all fair game for hackers that install spyware on your computer. Even when shopping on a perfectly safe and secure website, hackers will obtain your information through spyware on your system. A good antivirus software can easily prevent this from happening.

5. Stay Alert
Just reading articles like this and informing yourself on current credit scams is one of the best ways to protect yourself. In this case, knowledge really is power. Spend an hour or so each week reading up on credit news and you’ll be far ahead of the game.

4. Ensure Online Transactions are “Secure”
If you look in the address bar in your browser, most sites have an “http.” However, if you’re making a purchase online, the checkout page should have an “https” which stands for secure. This encrypts your data and makes sure hackers can’t steal your information from the site. All credible online retailers have this, so if there’s no “S” there’s a problem.

3. Never give your card info to a 3rd party
Use your credit card on a “need to know” basis. Never, ever give your card to someone that contacts you online, no matter how credible they seem. Of you think there’s something fishy going on, there probably is. Also, watch out for spoof emails that are sent by hackers and made to look like emails from your bank or another financial institution.

2. Be Insured
In recent years there have been a number of services popping up that offer insurance on identity theft for a nominal fee. With new scams that you have no control over, it pays to be insured, one of the biggest and most respected of these companies is LifeLock, they insure up to $1,000,000 in identity theft damages, and they’re currently offering a free 30 day trial of their services, it may be beneficial to try their service for a month: LifeLock Identity Theft Insurance Free Trial

1. Monitor Your Credit Report & Activity
The #1 way to protect your identity is through monitoring your credit. We can’t stress enough how important it is to stay on top of your credit report, and in this era it’s easier than ever. There’s a brand new service partnered with PictureCredit.com that offers a free credit report and free credit monitoring. It allows you to log on and check your scores up to the minute, and emails you of any changes on your report or new activity that’s happening. Read the box below to learn more:

Attention:

Scams like the one above can severely effect your credit. To sign up for a free credit monitoring service, which will help catch these kinds of things before they become too large, click the link below: Make Sure Your Credit Hasn't Been Compromised