Identity theft can take a criminal only a few minutes to achieve, in contrast, it can take months to settle a credit card fraud dispute, so it pays to check your own credit card report for a few minutes or to get a professional service to do it for you, especially if you use credit cards often.  Credit card reports can be accessed free of charge from banking institutions at least once a year.  The things to look out for are any charges on your credit card that you did not incur, or any odd locations or companies you usually do not purchase from.  Most times you may not be liable for the losses, however, debit card accounts generally have less protection against identity fraud, and may be liable for any losses.

There are two types of identity theft, account takeover and application fraud, in which criminals access your account and information and use it to their monetary benefit.  Victims usually learn of the credit card fraud upon checking their credit card report.  Therefore, checking your credit card statement can be a great strategy to ensure you and your loved ones are limited to victimization by criminals and paying their bills for them.  You need to catch the criminal’s identity theft early.

If you have online debit card or credit card accounts, it is wise to check them regularly.  Monitor your transactions and activities, and keep a document of your receipts for at least a few months.  This way you can have proof of your purchase and any overlapping dates wherein you did not make the fraudulent transactions.  Keep copies of your account statements, and shred all account details well.  Receipts should never be thrown away; they should be taken with you, as a growing number of untrustworthy employees from companies that you may have shopped with have been found to use customer receipts to access customer’s credit card or debit card account details.

By reducing the amount of credit cards you own and keep on you, can reduce the risks.  The more accounts you have, and the more careless you are with your credit cards, the more potential there is for identity theft.  It pays to be conscientious with money at all times, especially when shopping online.  Do not use debit cards online, as you are less protected by law.

Identity theft is one of the biggest issues in America, both in digital and physical world. Actually, most of these incidents take place when people do not pay attention to specific points.

Following are few important points that will help in reducing the threats of identity theft.

* Never give your phone number of address without a second thought. You must only give your information after reading a sales agreement. By signing an agreement, you allow companies to put your name to a marketing list. You must make sure that your personal information will not be shared with anyone else.
* While shopping on the internet, always shop from authentic and popular sites. No matter what other sites say about security, you will always be better off shopping from popular sites having good reputation.
* If you make donation, online or offline, you must make sure that charity organization does not share donor list with others.
* While using internet, pay special attention to what you download. Lots of download free music but they do not realize that these files come with viruses. Some of these viruses can destroy your personal data, while others can transmit your personal information to another computer. Think twice before downloading anything over the internet.
* Be extremely careful while spending time on social networking sites. Many hackers available at these sites get access to your computer by asking you to download a specific file.
* Since viruses and malwares are the biggest factors behind the increase in ID theft, you must do something to stop these viruses getting in your computer. Make use of antivirus software but always opt for a real-time, on-demand, on-access and heuristic scanner for better protection.
* Take special care when replying to an email message. Many identity thieves send fake emails to make you disclose your personal information, especially your bank account and social security number. Think twice before replying to an email even if it is from your bank.
* For offline privacy, try disposing off your important documents in a right manner. Many people search for your personal information in your trash and that is why it is important to shred all papers containing sensitive information.

The fact of the matter is that there are quite a few things that can help you to stay away from becoming an ID theft victim. Always keep in mind that your name, bank account, social security number and credit card numbers are of immense importance. If someone gets access to such information, he can use it in many different ways to commit fraud. So, always use your personal information after wearing belt and braces and keep these aforementioned points in mind to reduce the chances of meeting an identity thief.

Many baffle themselves with question that what is a credit freeze and what are the benefits associated.  Moreover, at times the conception of fraud alert protection is also mixed up with credit freeze. Credit freeze and fraud alert are totally two different protection tools for identity theft, and should not be confused.

Credit freeze

A credit freeze also known as credit lock, where you require paying for totally locking your credit. This states that no lender will have access to your individual credit report. This has been available by the bureaus in all 50 states. In case, you want to state an application for credit, you need to ask the credit agency to terminate the credit freeze. It is only after that, the lender will be able to gain access to the credit report. Afterwards the credit freeze can be reinstated.

The main three credit bureaus- Experian, TransUnion, and Equifax- charge a yearly fee of $10 for credit freeze.However, the draw back with credit freeze protection is that it may become expensive, since you to give a fee for implementation firstly, fee for lifting it when requires, and also an additional fee for reinstating it. You can get some relief from the charges, if you already have been a victim of identity theft.

Another drawback is that credit freeze is time-consuming. The agencies take at least three days before approving your request. At times, it also becomes difficult to open a bank account for yourself, as you need to undergo the process of lifting credit freeze. However, this indicates there can be no instant credit, or even when it is an emergency, you must wait for those three days.

Fraud Alert

On the other hand, fraud alert is the flag installed by credit bureaus on your individual credit report. With this service you instantly get notified if any credit card or bank loan is created using your personal information. Unless and until the action is verified, the transaction cannot take place. Unlike, credit freeze lenders do have access to your personal credit report, and they can check your credit report without your permission. But these fraud alerts gives you the red signal that there is a probable fraud.

Fraud alerts exist in two types. One is short-term fraud alert that will last for ninety days. Another is prolonged fraud alert offers protection for seven years.

Which one is better secured?

A credit freeze is much more secured comparatively to fraud alert, as entirely locks up your credit from getting any access. Nevertheless, there are many inconvenience related to credit freeze.

The best news is, if you are concerned about protection from identity theft than you can adopt both the services. All you need to do is contact the credit bureaus or enroll with one of our recommended Identity Theft protection services.

Get your credit report regularly
Having full knowledge on how your expenses are faring will allow you to note any irregular or malicious expenditures on your credit card. Be sure to receive your reports from your creditors on regular intervals for easy monitoring of credit. Report any errors to your creditor and solve them to avoid running into debts that you did not anticipate. Report any malicious and unauthorized use of your credit card by known or unknown persons to the authorities.

Don’t share your credit knowledge
How much you are worth should be your own secret. Sharing your monetary status with people exposes you to the risk of being an identity theft target.

Use card protection
Most creditors offer card protection services to their online users. They use single-use credit card numbers which are meant for online transactions only. This means that if someone else steals your card, they can’t use it to buy anything else.

Keep your card safe
Lock your card in a cabinet or drawer if you are not using it. Avoid leaving your wallet or purse with your card anywhere as someone may gain access to it. A good rule of thumb is to only carry one credit card at a time if you must carry one, and leave the rest secured someplace safe and out of the potential reach of thieves.

Check out credit card statements
The small credit-card charges being charged by persons or companies accumulate to large amounts in the long run. Some may be charging as little as $1 in the name of verifying whether your credit card works. The best thing to do is to talk to your creditor’s customer care agents and ask them to set up alerts for such suspicious charges. The services are offered free of charge and they will contact you in case someone charges you without your knowledge.

Get your credit report regularly
Having full knowledge on how your expenses are faring  will allow you to note any irregular or malicious expenditures on your credit card. Be sure to receive your reports from your creditors on regular intervals for easy monitoring of credit. Report any errors to your creditor and solve them to avoid running into debts that you did not anticipate. Report any malicious and unauthorized use of your credit card by known or unknown persons to the authorities.

Don’t share your credit knowledge
How much you are worth should be your own secret. Sharing your monetary status with people exposes you to the risk of being an identity theft target.

Use card protection
Most creditors offer card protection services to their online users. They use single-use credit card numbers which are meant for online transactions only. This means that if someone else steals your card, they can’t use it to buy anything else.

Keep your card safe
Lock your card in a cabinet or drawer if you are not using it. Avoid leaving your wallet or purse with your card anywhere as someone may gain access to it. A good rule of thumb is to only carry one credit card at a time if you must carry one, and leave the rest secured someplace safe and out of the potential reach of thieves.

Check out credit card statements
The small credit-card charges being charged by persons or companies accumulate to large amounts in the long run. Some may be charging as little as $1 in the name of verifying whether your credit card works. The best thing to do is to talk to your creditor’s customer care agents and ask them to set up alerts for such suspicious charges. The services are offered free of charge and they will contact you in case someone charges you without your knowledge.