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You probably know that you should be careful with your financial information. You probably know that if you see items on your credit report that you aren’t responsible for, you should have them taken off right away. Here are some other things you can do to protect your privacy, and reduce the chance that identity theft will happen to you.
Speaking of unwanted items on your credit report, check your credit report regularly, and if you see anything unusual on it, don’t assume that this is a harmless mistake. Sometimes an identity thief will make payments on an account for years, and it is only when they suddenly stop and abandon their balance that the victim must pay the price for privacy lapses of years past. Examine your credit report, as well as any other financial statements, very closely.
Get yourself a good shredder. It is one of the essential tools for protecting your privacy. Something that shreds on the diagonal, or turns papers into a proper confetti, is best. Also, once you have it, use it. Old bank statements, pre-approved credit card offers, and anything else that might be of interest to an identity thief should be shredded. Keep track of your billing cycles so that you know if your mail is being stolen before you throw it in the trash as well. Don’t be afraid to protect your privacy by calling to see what has happened if an expected bill or statement is more than a few days late, and retrieve your mail from the mailbox as quickly as you can each day.
Be careful about what calls and letters you respond to. It’s fairly easy for scam artists to sound professional on the phone, or create letter head. This goes for emails too. Make sure you’re actually dealing with the company you think you are contacting by looking up the contact information in a separate, reliable source. Your social security number is private and shouldn’t be used as a convenient identification. Don’t give it to anyone but banks and employers if you can help it.
