Identity Theft Prevention

For effective identity theft prevention, you must properly manage and protect your personal information. Prevention is your first line of defense against this crime and can save you a lot of pain and money, let alone from the feeling of being violated. When your identity is stolen, it's almost as if some stranger has broken into your house and penetrated your privacy. The feeling of being violated is much worse than having the material things stolen. This is one of the most important sections of this site.

As a starting point in your effort to prevent identity theft, learn about identity theft awareness. It all starts with the awareness that it can happen, why it happens, how it can be prevented, and who should and can take responsibility.

After you learn about identity theft awareness, switch your attention to identity protection and theft prevention. This can be done in a combination of two ways. First, learn about the identity KAOS™ principles , which I created to help manage and protect personal information. In summary; Identity KAOS™ has to do with Knowing, Assessing, Organizing and Securing your information. These identity protection principles must be applied all the time and become part of your identity theft prevention thought process in every thing you do that is related to and involves your personal information.

Second, after your understand the Identity KAOS™ principles, read the prevention tips presented below on this page. The preventive solutions in this section have been grouped into specific topics to better help you focus on your areas of interest, relevance and urgency. Enjoy the information and don't forget to sign up for the free newsletter for additional identity theft prevention tips.

Identity Theft Prevention Areas

Credit card fraud solutions Learn about preventing credit card fraud.
Travel security Increase your security awareness when you travel.
Computer security Apply the minimum computer security measures.

Identity Theft Prevention Articles

Social Media Post Dangers - There are serious consequences for revealing your personal information through social media sites. Recent studies have revealed that identity theft is a major problem affecting millions of people across the world.

Car License Plate Theft - How often car license plates are stolen? How serious is car license plate theft? Is this a crime and what are the penalties for license plate theft? This article answers these questions.

Laptop Disposal Tips - The need to dispose of one's laptop properly is critical because of the sensitive information that could exist on the hard drive. This article offers some laptop disposal tips.

Protect Yourself When Shopping Online If you are a regular online shopper, there are a few steps that you can take to protect yourself when shopping online from identity theft, prevent online fraud, and avoid paying higher prices.

Exercising Due Diligence Online Online threats are many as we will discuss in this article and exercising due diligence online is highly advised. Read this article for details.

Cell Phone Security Tips As smartphones are small portable devices, it is important to be aware of cell phone security tips in order to prevent cell phone theft or loss.

Car Robbery and Identity Theft As evidenced by this true story, leaving your personal items in the car even for a short period can expose you to some serious identity theft risks.

Mortgage Identity Theft Risks As we think about home loans, we have to think about mortgage identity theft risks when we consider all the components of a mortgage transaction.

Ways to Discard Documents There are many ways to discard documents properly. Discarding documents is even more important when they contain personal or business confidential information.
Prevent Check Fraud Consumers can take certain steps to help prevent check fraud for themselves and their financial institutions. This article lists a few check fraud tips for consideration.
Placing Credit Report Freeze Placing credit report freeze has many benefits and some disadvantage. This article discusses the process for placing a freeze on your credit reports as well as its benefits and disadvantages.
Types of Check Fraud Depending on the types of check fraud, there are actions that we can take to reduce check fraud risks.
Dead Body Pickpockets It is sometimes reported that a few first responders and passers-by become dead body pickpockets and steal items belonging to the dead person from the scene where a person has died.
Paying Cash Whenever Possible Consider paying cash whenever possible for some items which don’t make sense to be purchased with credit cards because the risks are higher than the rewards.
Job Phishing Scams Job phishing scams are ads which promise great jobs and salaries in exchange for upfront fees, copy of a resume, and other information which end up costing job-seekers money and identity theft.
Teenager Identity Theft Teenager identity theft is usually a big issue because they are ready to start their lives with that first credit card or car loan but face rejections due to bad credit report.
10 Safe Holiday Shopping Reminders As we get busy shopping during one of the busiest shopping times of the year, it is a good time to bring up the best 10 safe holiday shopping reminders for identity theft prevention.
Blocking Information Flow Blocking information flow is the best method for identity theft prevention because when key decision attributes are blocked, businesses can not process fraudulent applications.
Personal Assistants Personal assistants who have so much access to their bosses’ personal and business information present a security and privacy risk which must be considered by their employers.
Three Step Process The three step process is a full cycle identity theft prevention process that we have introduced to guide consumers in their efforts to prevent and detect identity theft.
Car Insurance Price Quote In our efforts to find the best car insurance price quote, we may be tempted to share our personal information with too many parties and become identity obese.
Credit Report Freeze A credit report freeze is the most effective identity theft prevention which has some limitations, benefits and advantages which we discuss in this article.
Spear Phishing Risks Spear phishing refers to cases whereby a person unknowingly shares an account ID and password with supposedly a legitimate company and witnesses the account takeover soon after.
Check Fraud Tips Although check fraud can be facilitated and prevented with technology, there are still many steps that account owners can take to prevent fraud as listed in this list of check fraud tips.
Consumer Responsibility Consumer responsibility for identity theft prevention can not be over-overemphasized. Here are 5 tips for consumers to consider and help prevent identity theft.
Stolen Patient Information News of stolen patient information pops up once in a while and often the culprits are employees with access to confidential information.
The Identity Diet Plan The Identity Diet plan is a customized identity theft protection plan which helps individuals focus in on their specific risks and take targeted actions while taking into consideration individual situations and goals.
Dealing with Lost Wallet We all know that a lost wallet or purse can be devastating when such incidents occur especially if we don’t know what exactly we had in our wallets.
Getting Your Identity in Order Once in a while, we may realize that our lives are disorganized and require us to get our house and identity in order which means that we have to have plans for reaching our goals and reducing risks.
Safe Online Shopping Safe online shopping practices must be considered as more people switch from shopping in the stores to purchasing items online.
Social Network Profile As members of online websites where you share information with others, you must update your social network profile as necessary to allow uninterrupted communication and be aware of all other risks.
RFID Credit Cards Do you know if you own RFID credit cards, what RFID is and what potential risks it may introduce? If you answered no to any of these questions, you should read this article.
Lost Cell Phone Cases of stolen, damaged and lost cell phone are common occurrences which consumers can foresee and take the necessary actions to protect and recover their lost or stolen cell phone and its data.
Check Your Wallet You must check your wallet periodically to review its contents, decide which ones need to remain in your wallet, and ultimately reduce your identity theft prevention risk by removing some of its contents.
Free Identity Theft Protection There are many free identity theft protection ways to prevent identity theft which can guide consumers how to stop identity theft.
Holiday Identity Theft Scams Holiday identity theft scams are the usual scams facing consumers throughout the year which tend to increase during the holiday season.
Immigration Identity Fraud Although under reported, immigration identity fraud, the practice of committing identity theft for entering a country illegally and then applying for political asylum legally is not very uncommon.
Young Identity Theft Victims It has been reported that young identity theft victims account for the majority of all identity theft victims and there might be good reasons why. Young people and their parents must apply identity theft prevention practices to protect the minors against identity theft.
Collect Your Debit Card When you forget to collect your debit card from the cash machine, the ATM swallows the card for security purposes however; you still need to follow up with the bank.
Small Purchases Using credit or debit cards for frequent small purchases unnecessarily increases the risk of identity theft each time we use the card.
ATM Skimming Scheme ATM skimming is illegal and combined with the associated card PIN can be a nightmare for banking customers who can lose all their account balances to the last penny.
Prevent Deceased Identity Theft Cases of deceased identity theft are abundant and family members of the dead or their friends must take all appropriate steps for identity theft prevention of their dead loved ones.
Expired Passport We need to apply the same stringent security measures to an expired passport as we apply to a valid passport. Expired and cancelled passports also pose an identity theft risk.
Digital Love As some explore the Internet and the possibility of conveniently searching for a digital love which can later turn into a lasting relationship, they expose themselves to identity theft risks.
Yahoo Email Account Takeover My Yahoo email account information along with others were illegally accessed and used to send unauthorized emails to account contacts.
Validated Authorization Validated authorization along with reduced levels of identity obesity is the best combination for low cost identity theft prevention.
Public Information Many of our personal information can become public information due to our careless identity management and identity theft prevention practices.
Prank Internet Messages Prank internet messages are on the rise as our use of the social networking sites increases. For identity theft prevention purposes, we must share information online with due care.
Fraud Alert Benefits With the continued abuse of consumer laws, fraud alert benefits start to diminish and lose their desired purpose and effectiveness for identity theft prevention purposes.
Preventing Identity Theft Our efforts for preventing identity theft can be the most cost effective strategy for reducing the risks of identity theft.
Background Check A background check is a great tool to protect yourself and your company from dishonest people.
Economy And Fraud Identity theft and fraud rise during a bad economy and individuals have to extra cautious in such times when considering the correlation between economy and fraud.
Website Access When using public computers for website access, you need to completely sign out to preserve your privacy and prevent unauthorized account modifications.
Limit Information Sharing We must limit information sharing with others to prevent identity theft. Most often information is shared routinely and excessively without regard for identity theft risks.
Credit Identity Theft With rising inflation and consumer goods prices, credit identity theft is a serious problem.
Multiple 401K Accounts Owning multiple 401K accounts presents a series of financial and identity theft risks, which should be considered and properly managed.
High Target Identity Identity theft may be facilitated by a high target identity to commit a specific identity fraud and crime. This article describes the high profile identity and who might be at a higher risk.
National Shred Day I think a well publicized National Shred Day would be a great event to help prevent identity theft and organize paper documents.
Dumpster Diving Risks We have to consider the dumpster diving risks as we throw away important documents and objects that contain our personal information.
Accident Information Car accidents are inevitable and as they occur, we must be ready to exchange all and only necessary car accident information for properly filing an insurance claim and other related paperwork.
Tax Refund Scam A typical tax refund scam can happen during any tax season but during a special tax refund year, scammers may have an upper hand against their victims.
Fraud Alert Risk The biggest fraud alert risk arises when companies fail to notice the fraud alerts in the credit reports and act responsibly to validate consumer identity.
LifeLock Review – Enrollment, Expectations and Benefits I enrolled for the LifeLock service and documented the sign-up process, my expectations and service benefits in this LifeLock review.
The LifeLock service I have been studying the LifeLock service for protecting my own identity. My analysis of the service and its benefits are described here.
Medical bill payments When facing medical bill payments, we have various options for making those payments. I considered my payment options when I received my medical bills.
Control your urge for credit We all get an urge for credit once in a while, but we have to analyze the reasons for our urge and take the appropriate actions based on our assessment.
When wallet is lost - consequences and actions Losing a wallet or purse may be inevitable but limiting damage and recovery can be proactively accomplished for times when wallet is lost.
Benefits of account and loan consolidation. Identity fraud inflicted on existing loan accounts can be reduced with proper assessment for account and loan consolidation.
Avoid fake unlicensed contractors. Some contractors we hire may be fake unlicensed contractors, therefore we have to make sure we only hire the right people for our safety.
Casino room charge card tips. In case you get a casino room charge card, destroy it immediately before it leads to identity fraud, which you may be liable for.
Quick ways to prevent identity theft. The information presented here provides a list of quick ways to prevent identity theft.
Valet parking service risks. There are some identity theft concerns and many other risks associated with using valet parking services.
Life insurance identity theft scam. Scams come in different forms and shapes but some people use life insurance identity theft scam to steal personal information and commit identity crime.
Managing natural disaster identity fraud risks. Natural disaster identity fraud risks are predictable before and after any natural disaster. Such fraud risk predictions must be taken seriously to avoid further disaster losses.
Dealing with conman scams. Scams come disguised in various forms and shape. Learn to separate scams from real deals and treat them as scams.
Trash collection and risks of identity theft. Improper trash handling for trash collection may create identity theft risks.
Dangers of digital copiers. New storage features in digital copiers create additional risks and require identity theft prevention mindset.
Fake overseas job offers. Did you just get an overseas job offer? Read this before you reply.
Use gift cards to prevent identity theft. This is a great identity theft prevention strategy if you buy too many coffees and other small items frequently.
Should you place a fraud alert or credit freeze? One way to prevent identity theft is to place a fraud alert or freeze on your credit reports. Learn the differences of both and pick the one that’s right for you.
Protect your existing accounts with an account freeze. An account freeze will put a stop to the unauthorized use of your existing accounts.
Avoid revealing your access code. Watch your back when you use your pass code in public places to access cash, your e-mail or make a phone call.
Safe holiday shopping. During the holidays, we go out shopping for friends and loved ones. Although, we all have our own shopping styles, there are certain actions that would ensure safe holiday shopping.
Avoid tax filer identity theft. You don't have to risk the theft of your identity when you file your taxes. Consider these tax filing tips for identity theft prevention.
Password security Learn about managing and securing your passwords, PINs and other secret codes.
Learn how to reduce your risk of identity theft during your job search. Jobseekers risk having their identities stolen by criminals if they do not manage their resumes with care. Online job searching has grown and so has online identity theft.
Remove labels and pre printed inserts from your magazines. These labels and inserts can be used to gather information about you.
Place fraud alerts to stop credit fraud. A fraud alert is a good identity theft prevention tool by forcing creditors to confirm your credit application directly with you.
Use credit freeze for preventing identity theft. A credit freeze will stop others from viewing your credit reports without your authorization.