An estimated 9 million people have their identities stolen each year. Often the person stealing your identity is someone who knows you. Victims spend an average of 300 hours resolving identity theft issues. About 70% of identity theft crimes are committed by employees at restaurants or retail stores.
We cannot imagine many instances where it is safe to give our personal information over the phone or email, so be careful when doing that. Paying online is a method that can help reduce the odds of ID Theft occurring.
Finally, you are allowed to order one free credit report per year. Take advantage and check yours every year. Some victims do not find out they have had their identities stolen for several years. Checking your credit report annually can help protect you.
- • Do not use your complete first name when ordering checks. If your name is Robert, use the letter R. It’s anyone’s guess what the letter R stands for. It could represent a wide number of first names.
- • Use a work phone number, instead of a home phone number.
- • Use a Post Office box address, not a home address.
- • Keep photo copies of every piece of identification you carry with you and store in a safe place.
- • File a police report in the jurisdiction your credit cards are stolen, if this ever happens to you. Your credit card issuers may want verification that you filed a report.
- • If your credit cards are stolen, immediately contact your credit card companies and the national credit reporting agencies and have them place a fraud alert on your name and social security number. Be advised this could also keep you from seeking new credit in the interim.
- • Add Identity Theft coverage on your homeowner policy. This coverage is usually very cheap to add but helps offset the costs of fixing and repairing your credit.
- • Shred your invoices and bills and anything else with account numbers, names and your address. Thieves will sift through dumpsters and trash to find what they need.
- • Scam emails. This is becoming more and more common as thieves will send you an email pretending to be a financial institution.
- • File a complaint with the Federal Trade Commission
You may not be aware that you can add ID Theft coverage on your Arizona Homeowner Insurance policy. If you want a quote on home insurance, click this Arizona Homeowner Insurance link!
If you live in Arizona and want life insurance, please click here for a quote on Phoenix Life Insurance or call our Arizona office at (480) 659-0229.