Becoming a victim of identity theft and having your personal information stolen is not something that can be fixed overnight.  It can takes months, maybe even years to get everything straightened out and for you to get your identity back.  One way that you can prevent this from happening is to consider freezing your credit report.  As everyone knows your credit report contains information about the way you pay your bills which lenders and creditors us to make any decision about to give you credit or not.

If you decide to freeze your credit repot these creditors and lenders cannot check your credit score or report unless you give the credit bureau a password.  Since most places will require a credit check before they will give a person a loan an application for credit will most likely denied if they do not have the correct password to check your credit score.  You can freeze your credit report with all 3 major credit bureaus.

If you already have credit with a company they can access your credit score and report without the password.  In addition, there are certain government entities and law enforcement agencies that can access your credit score and report.  Your credit score is not affected by the credit freeze.

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This type of scam is when someone calls you claiming that they are from your credit card company and asks you to confirm personal information.  This could be anything from your credit card number, the security code from the back of the card, or even your mother’s name.  If you give the caller any of this information after the call is over the caller will take the information and start making charges on your account.  This identity theft may even create a new account in your name.  Sometime these identity thieves or scammers will even leave a number on your answering machine or in an email to get you to call them.

If you should get a phone call of this type make sure that you do not give out any information even if they sound legitimate for the simple reason is that you did not initiate the call.  Some of these scammers are so smart that they can even have your credit card company’s number show up on the caller ID by spoofing your caller ID.  Only trust calls that you make by using the number on the billing statement or on the back of your credit card.  If you get any numbers in an email or left on your answering machine that you do not know do not call them back and give them any personal information.

Call your credit card company immediately if you mistakenly give out your personal information.  The credit card company may give you a new credit card number or even a new credit card and deactivate the old one to prevent fraudulent charges from being made on your account.
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Identity theft is in the news a lot but many people are still unsure how to protect themselves from becoming a victim of identity theft.  Some identity thieves will focus on using just one piece of information about you to steal your identity while others will steal your credit cards and max them out before you even know that they are missing.  The best thing that you can do to protect yourself from becoming a victim of identity theft is to be careful who you give out your data to over the phone, watch your personal documents, and be careful of mail theft. Just remember, no one is immune to identity theft and it can happen to you.

Identity thieves do not need your credit card number in order to steal your identity. Sometimes all an identity thief needs is just one piece of information about you and then they can gain access to the rest.  Make sure that you lock up those important documents such as social security cards and birth certificates at home in a safe deposit box which includes any credit cards that you are not using.

Many people do not realize that some of the non-financial personal information that you put online is sometimes enough for your identity to be stolen such as putting your full birthday on any social networking websites.  You should also make sure that you do not put in your home address or phone number on any website that you used for business or personal reasons.  This would include any job search sites.

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When you buy anything over the phone or online they want to know your credit card number and the three digit security code on the back of your credit card.  If we do not do this the only other option is to mail the company a money order or check and add extra time for the check to clear before it is shipped.  With so much talk about identity theft, you want to make sure that you are not going to become a victim if you give out your credit card information.  You want to make sure that you have credit card protection from becoming a victim.

Here are some tips to follow to help prevent identity theft from giving your credit card number out.

• A very simple first rule is never give your credit card number to anyone who calls you no matter what story they give you why they need this number even if they tell you that they are not trying to sell you anything and that they are only trying to verify some information.
• If you get an email that asks you to visit a certain website or make a phone call to verify your credit card information do not respond to either one because an honest business will not ask you to do either one.
• Identity thieves like to send out emails pretending to be from some well known store so if you get any offer via email be suspicious.  Often the email will contain a phone number that actually belongs to the identity thief and not the store so if you do you will be giving your credit card information to an identity thief.

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Becoming a victim of identity theft can happen in many different ways and as time goes on these identity thieves are figuring out more ways to steal your identity without being caught.  No longer is it just stealing mail out of your mailbox, picking your pocket, or stealing your purse.  They can use a fraudulent email pretending to be someone that you would trust so you will click on a link so they can get your personal information, or a clerk can take your credit card and scan it so they can use the numbers later.

Another thing that identity thieves love to do is attach devices to ATM card slots or store terminals. Generally the mouth of the card receptacle on the ATM machine should be flush with the machine or it may have a slight lip but if it looks or feels different when you swipe your card you should alert your bank to make sure that no fraudulent charges show up on your account. It could also have an extra piece of plastic that sticks out from the card slot or it could be a skimmer which is an electronic device that is placed there by the thieves.  When you swipe your card the skimmer will capture your credit card information.

People that identity thieves really love are tourists and travelers because many times they are having so much fun on vacation or too busy worrying about business if they are on a business trip they can get careless with their credit cards and not protect them as they should.  Identity thieves like business travelers in particular because they will usually be carrying laptops that they are working on for their business and do not pay attention to anyone watching them working.

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