Online Identity Theft How To Protect Yourself From it

The crime of identity theft occurs when someone gains enough personal information about you to enable them to open accounts in your name.
This could be:

• at department stores,
  
• a Visa/MasterCard account,
• a gas credit card,
  
• even a bank loan,
  
• and in some cases, all of the above.

The thief then charges those new accounts to the hilt, maxing them out, and then disappears to look for his next victim. The first time you ever become aware that your identity has been compromised is when you get a call from the card issuer or department store asking when you intend to start making payments on the account. And it all goes downhill from there.

Catching the thief is next to impossible, although the crime
should still be reported to the local authorities.

Much of online identity theft is possible because people are just too free with their personal information. This does not mean you should become a recluse or a hermit, but a certain amount of care and plain common sense should be exercised when you are doing anything online, especially a financial transaction.

Here are some of the tips that can be moved to help avoid having you become a victim of online identity theft:

* Keep your password safe. Do not write it down. Make your password something you can remember, and make it different for each online account you have, but do not make it something simple. Make it a combination of words with a number in it, like "pickled5honda". The worst thing you can do it write it down and then lose that paper where you wrote it, or even worse, have it as a file on your computer, and then your computer gets hacked.

* Never answer "yes" to any popup screen that may occur when you visit a website, asking if you wish them to save your password. Picking this will result in your password being saved in a system file which hackers can use to access your account and steal your identity.

* Be sure you know the company you are dealing with online, and think twice before entering your personal information, credit card numbers online. If it is a company you know and trust and you have worked with them before, that is one thing, but be very cautious with a company you do not know.

* Be aware of "phishing". Phishing is a strategy for stealing identities online. It is one of the easiest ways for a thief to steal your identity, as they set the bait and you take it. The identity thief shows himself as a member of a loyal and most used company.

Examples of these identity theft online tricks is that one of the millions of thieves sends you an email of which says that you have won or appears to come from your bank or credit union, even with the email showing the logo or the bank or credit union to make it look legitimate. But if you click the link asking you to verify your identity, you have just taken the bait. Your bank will NEVER ask you to enter personal information online, NEVER, so don't fall for this one.

Identity theft online is a real and serious threat that cannot be ignored. So if you want to avoid becoming a victim, heed these tips!