In light of it being Cybersecurity Awareness Month, are you taking the steps necessary to protect your identity? According to the Federal Trade Commission, each year, approximately 15 million Americans are identity theft victims with financial losses to the country totaling close to $50 billion.
Before suspicious activity results in full-blown identity theft, it’s up to you to be alert and detect possible threats. If your credit is denied for no reason, bill stop arriving as usual, or if you’re shopping on a website without privacy policies, you might be putting yourself at risk.
There are countless ways to detect possible threats:
- Verify any and all requests for personal data online, regardless of the requestor.
- Monitor all accounts regularly to look for charges you didn’t make.
- Use the web addresses you know instead of clicking an email link.
- Limit the times your payment cards are scanned out of sight.
- Logout when done on secure sites.
It’s also important to defend against identity theft as soon as you suspect a problem.
The first step is to place a “Fraud Alert” on credit reports by calling any nationwide credit reporting company and reviewing for fraudulent activity. By placing a fraud alert on credit reports, it will tell creditors to follow certain procedures before they open new accounts in your name or make certain changes to existing accounts. You also will likely want to close accounts that have been tampered with or opened fraudulently, file a police report, or contact the Federal Trade Commission.
Increasing your awareness of identity theft is the first step you can take. Make sure you keep your eyes open – it’s critical!