The best way to find out if you have been a victim of identity theft is to check your credit report. We recommend that you check your credit report from all three of the major credit bureaus at least annually. You are entitled to a free annual credit report from all three bureaus, so you really have no excuse for not doing so.

If an identity theft opens up a new financial account in your name, it will most likely show up on your credit report. This is why checking your credit report is a great place to see if you have been a victim of identity theft.

Other tell-tale signs are as follows:

• Receiving credit cards that you didn’t apply for.
• Being denied credit or having to take less than favorable credit terms when you should be eligible for better terms.
• Getting phone calls from creditors that you have never opened an account with.
• Failing to receive your normal credit card bills. An identity theft will change the address on your accounts to cover their tracks.

As you can see, there are some fairly obvious signs that your identity has been compromised. You want to make sure that you do all that you can do so that you do not become a victim of identity theft.

Fortunately for you, there is quite a bit that you can do to prevent identity theft. Check out the other posts in this blog to see what you can do to make sure you don’t become a victim of ID theft.

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A fraud alert is something that is put on your credit report to indicate that you suspect that you might become a victim of ID theft. If you are concerned about your identity, then you are entitled to ask that a fraud alert be placed on your credit report with all three of the major credit bureaus. This is a free service that you are entitled to do to protect your identity. A normal fraud alert last for 90 days, at which time you can renew it for another 90 days.

If you have actually been the victim of identity theft, then you are allowed to put an extended fraud alert on your account with all three credit report bureaus. You will need to provide the credit bureaus with proof of you being an identity theft victim, via a police report. Once you supply the credit bureaus with this proof, the extended fraud alert stays on your account for seven years.

The purpose of either type of a fraud alert is to cause companies that are in the process of issuing credit in your name to contact you first to verify that you are indeed asking for a new line of credit to be opened up with your personal information. This way, if somebody is in the process of committing ID theft with your personal information, they will not be successful as the issuing company must first contact you to confirm that you want to open up a new account.

You can see how useful of a tool fraud alerts are in preventing identity theft. Yes, they may be a bit of an inconvenience if you are actually trying to open up a new line of credit account. However, the amount of heartache that you will be saving yourself from having since you are doing your best to prevent id theft, is well worth the minor bit of aggravation having a fraud alert on your account may cause.

There are companies, such as LifeLock, that will put the fraud alert on your account every 90 days for you, so that you don’t have to worry about remembering to do so. This is just part of the service that LifeLock offers you to help prevent identity theft. Check them out to see what they can do for you!

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So the online version of pretexting is called phishing. Phishing is generally performed via email. You will receive a very official looking email from a bank or other online company that has something to do with your finances. A very common phishing attempt is performed while impersonating PayPal or eBay.

A lot of the time, the phishing email will be impersonating a bank or other financial institution that you have no connection with, so it will be very obvious that it is a phishing attempt. Other attempts to steal your identity will be via impersonating financial institutions that you do have a business relationship with.

The email will have a link you are supposed to click on. This link will take you to a website that looks exactly like the real financial institutions website, but it will be a fake, only there to perform ID theft. The fake website will ask for your password and login information. Once they have this, they will log into the real website and drain your account dry.

If you receive any email which claims to be from a financial institution that you do business with, never click on any links within that email. Instead, go directly to the website and login like you normally would. Then go to the messaging center of the website to see if they indeed did send you an email.

If they sent you an email, then you can do whatever it is asking of you from within the website that you just logged into. If there is no sign of any email being sent to you, then you must assume that the email you received is a phishing attempt and is out to commit identity theft.

Always be wary of any financial institution email you receive in your inbox. Always assume it is an email that is trying to commit ID theft. Always double check to make sure the email is legitimate. It is your identity that you will be saving!

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Pretexting is very much against the law, but it is a common practice of somebody who wants to steal your identity. An example of pretexting is someone may call you up and claim that they are conducting a survey. They will ask you a few questions that are personal in nature. They are enough to call up your bank and impersonate you, thus starting the process of identity theft.

Another method of pretexting is a crook who calls you up impersonating your bank and requests that you give them your Social Security Number and other private, personal information to “verify” that you are the owner of the account. Once you supply the crook with this personal information, they have all that they need to commit ID theft.

ID theft crooks are very clever in the methods that they use to obtain you personal information so that they can assume your identity. You have to be very wary of anybody who is calling you asking for private, personal information. They will do their best to set your mind at ease, but they will have the worse of intentions.

Never give out any personal information to anybody that calls you. If you feel that the call is legitimate, ask to call them back. If they insist on getting the information without you calling them back, then you can just about be guaranteed that they are a fraud and are out to steal your identity.

Do not become a victim of identity theft. Be smart when it comes to protecting your identity. Take control of your personal information and only give it out to those that have proven to you who they are and why they need it. Be smart when it comes to preventing identity theft!

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• Do not carry your Social Security Card on your person. Keep it in a safe place at home (ie, in a home safe).
• Before throwing anything away, shred anything and everything that has any personal information on it. This includes anything with even your name and address on it. You can never be too safe.
• Purchase a mailbox that locks, or use a PO box at your local Post Office to receive your mail at. Mail theft is a leading way to steal your identity.
• Do not open any email attachment unless you are 100% sure that you know the source and are expecting an attachment from the source. You cannot be too careful!
• Do not fall victim to an online phishing scam. If you receive an official looking email from your bank, or other financial institution, never click on a link in the email. Always log directly onto the financial institutions site and look to see if they actually sent you the message.
• Never discuss any of your personal information in a public setting. Always be aware of your surrounding if/when you are talking about sensitive, personal information.
• Do not use your Social Security Number as an identifying number for any accounts. This is like handing your personal financial information to a identity theft on a silver platter.
• Check your credit reports at least annually. You are now able to receive a free annual credit report from all three credit agencies. Do it!
• Never give out any sensitive, personal information to someone that calls you. If you believe they are legitimate, ask for a number to call them back at. Any real company will have a number you can call back at, making sure they are legitimate.
• Use your common sense. If it doesn’t feel right, then it probably isn’t!

These are just some of the things that you can do to prevent ID theft. It isn’t hard to implement these simple suggestions, and they will help you not become a victim of identity theft.

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