One You Blog

Personal Information on Your Blog: A Solution

Earlier this week, we looked at the potentially devastating impact of posting too much information on your blog. Today, we are going to look at some ways to keep your posts authentic, but safe.

1. Only use first names. There are a lot of John’s (or even Maurice’s) in any given area.
2. Practice grieving. This is something usually done by TV shows that do not want to be tied to one brand. Just use a term like “cell phone corner” or “Bank” instead of a proper name. Alternately you can use “*****” if you want.
3. Talk in generic terms. You can still rant about Trenton’s new property tax without mentioning you live there.

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How Much Personal Information Do You Post on Your Blog?

When you started a blog it probably was not with the idea of helping potential identity thieves to steal your life.  That may be exactly what you are doing, however your personal blog can quickly end up as an information gold mine.  What kind of posts might pose problems?

• Updates about your job or company.
• Posts about new additions to your family, their activities or health.
• Post that talk about issues (or events) specific to your town.
• A rant about how bad your bank (mortgage company) credit cards service is.

If through your blog a scammer can find out that your name is Tom Jones, you work for Sprint (in accounts receivable) and that you live in Cleveland, then they are halfway home.  Actually, depending on what they want to do, they may have everything that they need.  Poster beware!

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Interesting Identity Theft Statistics

While the statistics surrounding identity theft are not 100 percent accurate, they are close to it and should open your eyes to just how big of a problem this has become.

How many people become victims of identity theft every year? It is thought that roughly 10 million Americans have their identity stolen annually. This is far from everybody in the country, but a very big number. To understand just how severe this is, it is essential to consider how much money is lost each year due to this crime. Not only are hundreds of billions of dollars lost, but the average victim spends more than 300 hours attempting to repair damage caused by identity theft.

There are many types of identity theft. Approximately 66 percent of victims stated that their personal information was stolen to open a new credit card account; this is most common. Also, a rising trend shows that almost 30 percent of victims had a cell phone account opened in their name. This is sure to become even more popular as technology advances.

These statistics should help you to see just how big of a problem identity theft has become. Are you doing what you can to avoid becoming the next statistic?

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Seniors and Identity Theft

A lot of identity theft scams, and scams in general, target senior citizens.  That is not only because they are less likely to question institutions and authority (on the whole), but also because there maybe a higher level of confusion about modern ID theft practices.  So, how can a senior protect themselves.

1. Educate yourself.  Many younger people get their information at employer sponsored trainings or on blogs like this one.  You may not have access to the course, but you can still read up.
2. Cultivate a skeptical eye.  You have lots of life experience to fall back on.  Use it to cultivate critical judgment.
3. Don’t be afraid to say no to a caller or visitor.  If you are not comfortable do not give them what they want.

(Image Credit)

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Keeping Copies of Your Cards

So, your wallet or your purse has gone missing.  Not that, “oh look, it was under the bed all along!” missing, but truly gone.  Now, you have to begin canceling all of your credit cards.

You do have the numbers, experation dates and contact information on hand, don’t you?  If not, your job just got a whole lot harder.

How can you prevent this without having to order a second copy of all of your cards?  Simple, with a photocopier.  Put all of your cards onto the copier and take images, front and back.  Now, you have everything that you need.

Just be sure to keep the copies somewhere safe.  A lock box will do.

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Why is identity theft on the rise?

Identity theft cases are on the rise in this bad economy.  The question is why?  The answers are relatively straight forward.

1. You are less likely to be caught.  Crooks who choose to steal your ID have about a 5 percent chance of having to face the music.
2. It could take you months to find out that you are a victim.  It doesn’t work that way if you mug someone.
3. The reward is greater.  What can be run up on your credit card is more than most criminals can get from facing your PC.
4. They don’t have to look you in the face.  Someone who is not used to commiting crimes will have a hard time with looking at you while they rob you blind.  The anonymity of the net helps with this.
5. They have convinced themselves that, “its them or me”.  Very few people are noble enough to save someone else at the expense of tanking themselves.  That makes this a dangerous mentality.

It’s not exactly an FBI profile, but knowing your adversary always helps.

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Should I Report Identity Theft to the Police?

Believe it or not, some victims of identity theft think that there is nothing they can do to fix their problem. They never check their credit report, or call the bureaus to correct any errors. To go along with this, they decide that reporting this to the police is also a waste of time. You don’t want to be one of these people if your identity is stolen.

You should contact your local police department as soon as possible if you have become a victim of identity theft. Not only can this help you, but it can do the same for others in your area.

Why should I report identity theft to the policy? The main reason for this is that you will have a report that you can show creditors and the credit bureaus. This will make it much easier for you to dispute fraudulent information. If you are interested in restoring your identity and good credit rating, you will need a police report; there is no way around this for the most part.

If your identity theft has been stolen you should not waste anytime getting in touch with the police. Tell them what happened, and let them put a report together based on the facts that you can offer. By doing this you are taking an important step towards getting back to normalcy.

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Passing Information Verbally

There are times in this world when telling someone information is the norm.  That doesn’t make it safe.  If you do it the wrong way, potential scammers can hear your personal information.  Think about it, these types of situations are an information buffet.  If you want to minimize your chances of being a victim there are some things you can do to reduce your risk.

* Curb your voice.  By keeping your voice low, you reduce the risk of being over heard.
* Don’t offer any extra information.  Sure, chatting up the clerk may be fun, but extraneous information about your life and family should be off limits.
* When in doubt, or a crowded area, ask to write it down instead of saying it aloud.  Just be sure to get that paper back.

Also, consider asking if there is a less invasive form of ID that you can use.  You may be able to simply pass over a drivers license instead of listing off your social security number.
(Image Credit)

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Does your Credit Report make you Suspicious of ID Theft?

One of the best ways to catch certain types of ID theft is to review your credit report. This is something that many people forget. Time after time consumers say they want to avoid ID theft but are unaware of how to determine if they are a victim. By checking your credit report at least once per year, if not twice, you are giving yourself the chance to catch this problem.

As you are reviewing your credit report you should ask yourself one very important question: is there a reason to be suspicious of ID theft? For instance, you may come across a credit account that does not make any sense. If you know for a fact that you never opened the account, there is a chance that somebody did so in your name and is now using it to run up a large bill. You cannot sit back at this point and wonder what is going on. Instead, you need to report this to the credit bureaus so you can have the account removed at once. To go along with this, you should attempt to get to the bottom of the problem with the creditor.

If you never review your credit report you could be missing out on a detail showing that your ID has been stolen. To avoid this, review your report at least once a year for suspicious activity.

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How to Prevent Medical Identity Theft

Are you worried about medical identity theft? You should be. You always hear stories of people using others identities to seek medical treatment, buy prescription drugs, etc. Even though this form of identity theft is not as common as many others, such as thieves stealing credit card information, it is something that you should know a little bit about.

The best way to prevent medical identity theft is to review every bit of information that your health insurance company sends you in regards to the treatment you have received. If you receive an explanation of benefits that does not match up with your records you need to contact your insurance company at once.

According to the Federal Trade Commission, every year there are more than 200,000 medical identity theft cases in the United States alone. This crime is committed in many ways. Somebody may use your name and insurance to receive medical care. Many have had their medical records stolen and sold so others can make false claims.

If you receive a bill for treatment you did not receive there is a good chance that you are already a victim of medical identity theft. At this point, as noted above, you need to communicate quickly and effectively with your insurance carrier.

The best way to prevent medical identity theft is to be aware of your situation, to review all correspondence from your health insurance company, and to keep your health insurance information safe and secure.

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