Antivirus and malware software can help you detect attempts to access your personal information by resourceful online scammers and many times, neutralize those threats. You can purchase a cross-cut or micro-cut shredder (the most secure) or stay on the lookout for community shredding events. Bank statements, anything with your Social Security number, old credit cards–they’re all delicious finds in your trash for identity thieves. Avoid accessing your financial accounts over unsecured public WiFi connections. Free public WiFi can seem like a score, but open networks make it easy for scammers to connect to your devices. Turning on password or biometric identification (like fingerprints or facial recognition) can prevent a thief from accessing personal information on your phone. In 2018, Kaspersky Labs found that 52 percent of people don’t password-protect their phones. Put password or biometric protection on your devices.The most popular password managers are fee-based services available by subscription. Password managers offer an encrypted way to store your private login information so that it’s both easily accessible (to you) and hard to access by anyone else. Storing all those passwords in your browser can leave them vulnerable to malware and other hacks. Temporarily lifting or completely removing a freeze can be done online with each of the credit bureaus using a password or PIN assigned during the initial freeze. Freezing your credit reports makes it impossible for new accounts to be opened in your name unless you remove the freeze. Checking your credit can help you keep an eye out for fraudulent activity like new credit cards or loans and inquiries you don’t recognize. It’s easy to get a free weekly copy of your credit report from all three credit bureaus. While there’s no guarantee that your identity won’t be stolen, the steps below can help you take immediate action to make your personal and financial information more secure. Military: When active-duty military are deployed, they’re less likely to notice anything awry in their credit reports, and frequent relocation means their personal information gets shared with greater frequency.ġ0 Steps to Take to Help Protect Your Identity.For example, many people who were excited to get their Covid-19 vaccine posted photos of their vaccine cards online, which contain lots of identifying personal information, including your full name and date of birth. Social media users: Those prolific on social media have vast amounts of identifying information online, making them easy targets for resourceful fraudsters.Seniors: As they’re often less tech-savvy than younger folks, seniors are more likely to fall prey to internet phishing and telephone scams.Family members are often the offenders since they may have access to a child’s Social Security number. Children: Thieves particularly like children because they can use their Social Security numbers to create clean credit profiles for someone with a bad credit history or looking to open fraudulent accounts.Simply having a Social Security number makes you at-risk for identity fraud, yet specific populations are more vulnerable to identity breaches. Who Is Most Vulnerable to Identity Theft? Naftali Harris, co-founder and CEO of SentiLink, a firm specializing in fraud schemes, tactics and identity verification, says “Much of this is due to fraudsters taking advantage of weakly secured unemployment insurance programs stealing the identities of citizens and claiming benefits in their name,” he says.ĭata from the FTC shows that consumers reported 40 times more benefits fraud to the FTC in Q1 2021 than Q1 2020, likely linked to the increase in unemployment filings due to pandemic shutdowns and job market stresses. In 2021, rising identity theft cases came from an unlikely source: government benefits. The number of Americans reporting losing money to fraud is also on the rise, with 34% of 2020 fraud reports citing loss of money, versus 23% in 2019. While that might leave room for many people to say, “Oh, it won’t happen to me,” new figures on rising instances of identity theft bring cause for alarm.Īccording to a February 2021 report from the Federal Trade Commission, Americans reported losing $3.3 billion to fraud in 2020–a significant jump from the $1.8 billion reported in 2019. Millions of American Affected by Identity Theft Every YearĪccording to a 2021 poll by, four in 10 people reported being victims of identity theft.
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