Identity Theft Prevention and Recovery: Tips & Info

• How do you know if you’ve been hit?

• How can you begin to pick up the pieces?

Identity theft prevention. So much has been written about it, yet at the same time useful information regarding identity theft recovery can be a little more difficult to come by. The reason for that is simple and that is that each persons case is different.

Avoid Keeping Personal Information on Your Person

So then lets start out with the basics of prevention. There are a few basic items of information that you need to safeguard more diligently than others and this should start by never keeping all of them together in your purse or wallet.

Do You Really Need All Your Cards on You?

Those would be your full name, your social security number, your mothers maiden name and bank account numbers. Also if you can do it, try not to keep all your credit cards together. If you can get by with one or two then simply keep the others tucked away until you need to use them.

Get a Locking Mail Box Installed

It also pays to have a locking mailbox installed and of course never give out personal information over the phone, what ever the reason is. Of course you should also never keep any pin numbers with any bank or debit cards and do make a point of getting a free annual credit report three times a year. One from each agency.

Learn to Politely Keep Your Guard Up

The last bit of advise I can give you in this area falls into the “trust no one” category. Would you believe that a huge percentage of identity theft cases are perpetrated by an acquaintance, friend or relative? It’s true! All the popular design houses now make and sell attractive identity theft prevention locking billfolds purses.

What If you Haven’t Used Identity Theft Prevention?

So then suppose you’re reading and taking all this in after the fact. Just what are the steps you can take to pick up the pieces if your identity has already been stolen and used. In this case, your first clue will be a call from creditors are a bill from the IRS for taxes on wages you haven’t earned.

They Just Don’t Care About Your Problems

In this cases what you will soon find out is that the onus is entirely on you to in fact prove that you didn’t use the lines of credit or earn the wages. You see, neither the IRS or credit default agencies have the resources or the means to deal with these types of situations.

They Just Want Your Damn Money!

They do only one thing and they do it well and that is to squeeze money out of people, so don’t expect any of them to put their job on hold while you straighten out your personal affairs. In fact they would be more than happy for you to simply pay up, which is what all too many people end up doing.

Identity Theft Protection: See My Personal Recommendation Here

Be Polite Yet Firm

What you don’t want to do is become hostile to any of these callers, which can be very tempting to do. Try to understand that people making false claims that their identity has been stolen is a common ruse that they run up against. Also in the end they can be a great source of information.

Send Each Collector a Certified Letter

Simply take down their names and mailing addresses and make a note of what was discussed during the phone call. Then after you hang up mail them a certified letter, receipt requested that outlines what was discussed and the date of the call.

Change Your Computer Passwords

Then you need to sit down and make up a list of things that you need to do to cut off the source of your problems and the quickest and easiest of these is to change all the passwords that you use on your computer. You need to change them to longer more complex combinations.

Go Let the Local Police Know

Your next step should be to head right down to your local police station and inform them that your identity has been stolen. If you’re lucky they may in fact have an investigator who specializes in assisting people like you with identity theft prevention and recovery.

A Whole List of Agencies to Be Contacted

There’s a whole list of agencies, both public and private that need to be contacted, including the FTC to file an identity theft report, your bank, your credit card providers and any other debtors that you determine have been effected by your predicament. All of them should be able to assist you with your filings and notifications.

The List Just Keeps on Growing

You also need to contact the social security administration and inform that agency of your situation. Even if your social security number hasn’t been used, chances are that in time it eventually will be. Also contact all the credit reporting agencies to put a stop to any new credit applications.

What About Lawsuits and Arrest Warrants?

Understand that it’s not at all uncommon for people to spend up to 2,500 hours undoing the mess that has landed in their lap, so of course identity theft prevention is key. However; for now, your next step is to contact an attorney who specializes in this area of the law so you can be protected from both civil and criminal actions.

The Sad Truth About Identity Theft

Truth is we all have about a 1/20 chance each year of being affected by identity theft. Yep, about 5% of the population each and every year and rising. Keep yourself protected, see exactly what I use for identity theft protection