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Passports - Keep your private information in a safe, don’t carry it with you unless you’re actually traveling.
For better Password Protection, change all your passwords, online and otherwise. Add passwords to all new accounts including utilities. For best password protection, make your password safe; don’t use your mothers maiden name, your birth date, or any part of your social security number. For the best password protecting include capital and small letters, numbers and symbols and keep password at least 8 characters long. The reason is some of these passwords can take 20 days for some hacking programs to break. This is why you should change your online passwords weekly. Don’t use the same password on all accounts. Memorize all passwords and PIN numbers. If you can’t memorize your password, keep it in a safe. So is your password really safe? How easy is it for thieves to get your password? Click here for answer. Some of the best password protection won’t stop a thief from stealing your password this way, so to protect yourself WATCH AND READ WHAT THE SECURITY WARNING SAYS. If it tells you the connection is not secure - DO NOT CLICK YES - AND DO NOT LOG INTO YOUR ACCOUNT. If you do you will give the thief your security certificates as well.
Phishing is a form of online identity theft. When a thief sends you an email that looks like it came from a bank or other official site, but will contain links to bogus look-a-like sites - This is a phishing scam. The thief is trying to steal your personal information, or is phishing (fishing) for your password, or social security number. You can prevent phishing by going directly to your banks website, don’t respond to the links in the email, as they can also download bot nets (see report 29). Report phishing scams to: NCSD , or without opening or clicking on any of the links, forward the phishing email as an attachment to: phishing-report@us-cert.gov , this is the United States Computer Emergency Readiness Team, (US-CERT). One thief said “6 out of 10 people fall for the phishing scams”. Foxfire browser can help prevent phishing scams, as it has more security features, like a yellow background in forms. For additional information on how to recognize and prevent phishing scams, go to: http://www.us-cert.gov/reading_room/emailscams_0905.pdf If you are taken by phishing scams, contact your bank or creditor immediately.
Contact the Police - Report the crime in the jurisdiction where the identity theft took place, and get a copy of the police report. Also give the police a copy of your federal trade commission identity theft complaint form. The police station you report to may not be in your local area. Be sure to keep following up with the progress of the police department, many have 6 months to over a year of back logged identity theft cases. It is best if you can do most of the investigation yourself and give it to the police. Many times it will take the police 6 months just to gather enough evidence to convict the crook(s), and one case of identity theft can cost a department thousands of dollars. The police are not there to get your money back for you, their task is to arrest the crook. The stronger your case when you make the police report, the better your chances of having it assigned to a detective. Have your bank and credit documents ready before you file the police report. Send copies of the police report to fraudulent accounts that were opened. Also give the police any identity theft information that may lead them to the thief.
Contact the postal inspector if you believe your mail has been stolen or if your service has been interrupted to assist in identity theft, also contact the postal inspector for other mail scams. Phone: 1-877-876-2455. NEWSFLASH Postal inspectors work with many agencies to help catch many identity thieves. However just because your mail is stolen, it is not a sure sign that you are indeed an identity theft victim. But it does mean that there is a big chance the thief already has your information. While the postal inspector and police can catch an identity thief, it does not restore the damage the thieves will do to your credit, and life.
Privacy Rights Clearinghouse - Privacy Rights Clearinghouse is a website loaded with free identity theft information, tips, laws, victim stories, business identity theft data breaches, and more.
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