Repair Your Credit Profile

1. Refrain from writing checks from your personal account to people which you do not know. Rather, consider providing cash, a bank draft or a money order. Even if you don’t use online banking, an unauthorized person can remove money from your account using the Internet as the medium.

2. Before you dispose of bank statements, you need to be aware of this – people who steal identities cannot get into your bedroom or where you work. Instead, they rummage your garbage bins for important data, and often, they discover what they were seeking, so purchase a paper shredder. You should also consider making use of a identity theft security product.

3. Enroll in ‘paperless statements only’. Majority of financial institutions send their client’s statements via snail mail. The downside of this is that your statements contains just about all of your bank account data and there is nothing stopping someone from opening it.

4. You will often receive checks from your credit card company via the mail. These can be incredible simple to convert into cold hard cash. Get ahold of your credit card company and request that they stop sending you those checks. And make use of a stolen identity protection solution to help protect your personal information.

5. Be aware that banks do not replace the number of the credit card when they send you a new one. The only thing they change is the expiration date. Undoubtedly, an expired credit card cannot finalize a transaction when used in person, but when used online, you just need the number on the card and the card holder’s name.

6. Ensure that the back of your credit or debit card is signed. The person ringing up your transaction should compare the signature of the person using the card with the one on the credit card, especially when a huge amount is involved. In order to prevent someone who is not authorized using your charge card, sign the back of the card.

7. Pre-approved credit card offers are dangerous much like financial statements. It is easy for a criminal to pull credit using your name and pre-approved offers for credit. Precisely like with your other banking paperwork, pre-approved offer mailings should be dealt with in the appropriate manner.

8. Refrain from using computers in public places such as ‘hotspots’, workplaces or other public places when applying for credit cards online or when checking your credit card or bank accounts. They can be accessed easily by hackers. Even if you do not utilize public computers, ensure that you wipe clean the cookies stored in the computer after you sign off. Read more about Life Lock to see if it is the right service for your situation.

Technorati Tags: id theft, Identity Theft