The economy has fallen on tough times. With the combination of the housing crisis and increased fuel and food prices many Americans are more desperate than ever to get their hands on cash…or credit. Unfortunately for them, credit is harder to come by these days as numerous banks have been forced to squeeze their belts and tighten up their lending standards.With credit no longer as readily accessible as it once was, some people are lowering themselves to depths they never dreamed they would go. Desperate times call for desperate measures, and some people are just desperate enough to traipse on the names and credit histories of friends or family members to keep up with their lifestyles or just to get by.Now, more than ever, it is important that you take extra precautions when it comes to protecting your identity. Be careful who you divulge personal information to as many identity theft cases (especially those involving credit fraud or social security number theft) can be traced back to a relative or acquaintance of the victim. Treat your financially sensitive information like you do cash—give it away sparingly because once it’s gone, it’s gone. And you may spend the rest of your life trying to get your own identity back.7 Tips for Safeguarding Your Identity in a Credit Crunch1. Undergo a major overhaul on your online logins and passwords. If you are like most Americans, you prefer to do your banking and bill paying online. While this is convenient, it also poses certain risks. Make sure that you regularly change your passwords and that neither your passwords nor your answers to online security questions are easy to guess. In fact, you may want to consider coming up with fake answers to your online security questions or at least mixing your answers up so that the name of the street your childhood house is on appears in the slot designated for your mother’s maiden name. This will confuse identity thieves—even if they happen to be someone close to you.2. Scrutinize your monthly statements. One of the quickest ways to catch credit card fraud or bank account fraud is simply to check and double check each purchase charged to your account at the end of each month when your bank and credit card statements come. The amount you are liable for changes the longer a fraudulent purchase goes unreported, so in order to decrease your liability and maximize your rights, check your statements as soon as they come and report any suspicious activity immediately. If you have a hard time keeping track of legitimate credit card purchases, try keeping a ledger similar to the one you use for your checking account. Write down each purchase and the amount charged and then reconcile that to your statement when it comes.3. Take advantage of your free credit reports. Each year consumers are entitled to one free copy of their credit reports. This is an excellent first step toward monitoring your existing accounts. If you have been a victim of credit card fraud in which the thief opens new credit in your name that information should appear on your credit report. Once it is spotted, you can begin the process of reporting the fraudulent activity and repairing the damage done to your credit. You can obtain your free credit report by clicking here.4. Sign up for a $1 trial of ID Secure. Because credit reports are only free once a year, and identity thieves can defraud you at anytime—especially in the midst of a credit crunch—it would be wise to extend the effort you put into monitoring your credit to include public records searches and social security monitoring. Purchasing a product like ID Secure might greatly increase your peace of mind as well as the level of protection guarding your identity. For just $12.99 a month (after the initial $1 trial period) a professional identity monitoring company will use advanced web crawling technology to search the internet and public records to make sure that your social security number, credit and ATM cards and other personal information isn’t being fraudulently used in any way. ID Secure makes sure your identity is being monitored 24 hours a day, seven days a week helping to keep it safe. If fraudulent activity is suspected, you will be informed immediately. You can learn more by clicking here.5. Employ specific safeguards at the office. Since the workplace tends to be a prime place where identity thieves lurk, it’s important that you are constantly aware of who is around you and who may have access to your private information. Don’t be afraid to approach someone in Human Resources at your office to ask about how they safeguard employee information. Also, beware of the information you photocopy on the office copy machine. Some machines have hard drives that store copies of all material duplicated. Those hard drives can be a goldmine of information for thieves who may know how to harvest them for information.6. Stop using your debit card and use only your credit card or cash instead. Although both debit and credit cards can leave you vulnerable to becoming a victim of identity theft, you have less liability with a credit card than you do with a debit card. It’s also important to note that banks have 30-90 days to return funds wrongfully taken from your bank account while the theft is still being investigated. If your debit card number was stolen and money was siphoned from your bank account, financial hardship might result from losing that money for one to three months.7. Use only bank ATMs. Identity theft at non-bank ATMs is on the rise, and it’s important that you be aware of the risks. Savvy identity thieves have discovered how to measure key strokes through faulty keypads in order to steal people’s pin numbers. In some cases, pin sized cameras were installed to digitally record that same information. Whenever possible make sure you use ATMs attached to a legitimate bank. Generally, it’s a good idea to have one or two ATMs that you usually frequent so that you can memorize the look and feel of the machines. That way, if something suspicious is going on, you are more likely to be tipped off.The Federal Trade Commission states that identity theft is the fastest growing crime in America. With between 9 and 10 million people falling victim to the crime each year you really need to make every effort to ensure that you are safeguarding yourself from this crime in whatever ways possible. These seven steps are a great starting point to helping make sure your identity remains your identity.ID thieves will stop at nothing to get your identity. Safeguard the identity of yourself, your family and your business, visit www.prepaidlegal.com/hub/adamsonb.
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