In most instances of fake check scams the one doing the scam will request that you to send money back to them in some way.  What they will do is send you a check for goods or services for more than the amount that is requested.  They will tell you to go ahead and deposit their check and then you are to wire them back the additional money.

In some instances, the scammer will ask you to wire them money for processing, legal fees, taxes, shipping, or any number of other expenses that you are going to have to pay before you will receive your reward or money.  The checks that the scammers will send you will feel and look real no matter if they are a cashier’s check or a personal check.  These checks have even been known to fool a bank teller.  These checks could have been written fraudulently or may be from a legitimate corporation or business.

Here are some things that you should be aware of.

• One thing that you should know is that fraudulent check will clear the bank quickly and the banks have to make the runs available within one to five days but it depends on the type of check.  The money may be available for you to withdraw from but if the bank discovers that it is a forgery a few weeks later and bounce the check.
• Any deposits you make are your responsibility which means that if you deposit a check that bounces the bank will withdraw the original amount of the check that was credited to your account.  If your account does not have enough money to cover it the bank may sue you to recover the money.
• There is no legitimate reason that anyone who is giving you money to ask you to send money back.  Make sure that you insist that the check be in the exact amount or deal in cash.

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.

You also need to be careful with your regular mail and make sure that you are following your billing cycles very close because if you do not get the statement on the normal day you usually receive it this could mean that an identity theft has gotten hold of your account and changed the mailing address.  When you order new checks you should pick them up at the bank instead of having them mailed to your home address to prevent them from being taken from your mail box.  Take any outgoing mail to the post office to be mailed because anyone can just walk by and take your mail out of your mail box.

When you get in your bank and credit card statement make sure that you review them to make sure that there are no unfamiliar charges on them or withdrawals. These are just a few of the things that you can do to help prevent yourself from becoming a victim of identity theft.

The reason that the individual is not aware of it happening is that it does not appear on your credit report.  It is a combination of addresses, names, Social Security numbers and more so all this information does not ad up to a single person to claim fraud but a combination of different people.  Most of these will go unreported and eventually will be written of and become charge offs within the financial institution before anyone is aware of the problem.

You can protect yourself from Synthetic Identity Theft by making sure that you shred sensitive documents and mail because identity thieves have no problem going through your trash to find any type of personal information that they can use to steal your identity.  When you get those Social Security benefits booklets make sure that the income that is reported is accurate and there are no discrepancies.

If necessary you can put a Security Freeze on your credit report which is designed to keep a credit reporting company from releasing your credit report with getting your consent. You should make sure that you do not give out your Social Security number to anyone.  This is one piece of information that is very valuable to identity thieves.

When it comes to someone else using your Social Security number the odds are one in seven and one study shows that forty million of the Social Security numbers in use have been connected to more than one name and that approximately six percent of the population actually have multiple Social Security numbers that are associated with their name.  This is about twenty million people.

The reasons could be something as simple as a typo or an incorrect entry into the system but it can also mean that when identity thieves apply at different banks they will change one digit on each application.  This means that the second number is forever associated with this particular individual which creates a Synthetic identity.

Make sure that you are using password protection so that no once can just turn your computer on and log in without having to use a password.  This will prevent strangers from accessing your computer for personal information.  Make sure that you change your passwords often.  If you like to frequent the social networking sites or chat rooms make sure that you do not reveal too much personal information about yourself like your full birth date, your phone number, or your complete address. This is a good credit protection practice.

Be aware of fraudulent emails that appear to be from legitimate stores or sites.  If you should answer the email by clicking on a link in the email you could just be feeding personal information to an identity theft.

Make sure that you can give a full description of your computer if it is stolen.  You should write down the make, color, model, and unique serial number of your computer and keep it somewhere safe so you can give all this information to the police if it is stolen.  The serial number is a key identifier for your computer just like the VIN number on your car.  This information is also important in case you need to file an insurance claim. You can also have a GPS tracking device that will run invisibly on the computer to help you relocate your stolen property.

Make sure that you get your credit card back quickly from the sales clerk or the waiter.  At some bars if you are running a tab the bartender will want you to give them your credit card to keep at the register so you will not stiff the establishment of money.  Do not do this because if the credit card sits at the register or bar it not only get lost or if you have a little too much to drink you may forget to pick it up.  In addition, it might get skimmed or an employee or someone else sitting at the bar that can see the card might take a picture of it with a cell phone camera.

You should also be looking for security cameras because PCI data security standards has a requirement that makes sure merchants who process credit cards in person have to have security cameras trained on the areas of credit card processing but unfortunately many of them do not.  Another area that you should be concerned about is tip fraud which means that whenever you add a service tip onto your card you are risking a tip fraud.

Tip fraud is a scam in which a service employee alters the tip amount when they enter the final bill at the cash register. Even if you are one of those people who go over their statements are not going to notice an extra dollar tip so to avoid this scam leave the tip in cash.

Do watch out for skimming on PIN and ATM entry terminals because they are just as vulnerable as the registers in the stores.  This is especially true of ATM entry terminals that are not monitored by merchants. Identity theft protection is what everybody needs in safeguarding their identities and credit.