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What is identity theft? It is when someone steals someone else’s identity and then uses that identity to pretend to be someone else in order to gain access to financial resources. Bank loans and leasing information are some examples of financial resources. The identity thief can use this information to gain deeper access to your financial history and other sensitive information.
Identity thieves can also gain access to your internet credentials and then try to hack into your account and spam all of your contacts, especially your loved ones. Often times, these criminals will try to ask your contacts for money or other favors by pretending to be you. The key here is learning how to protect yourself against these criminals.
Starting with the Internet, we must be very careful. I say this because it is a deeply social means of communication. I think that people have less inhibitions when they are online and they often allow themselves to be exposed or hidden in a much more dynamic way. In other words, you can be anyone or anything online. There are also people who open up too much and are not aware of the dangers of identity theft on the Internet.
A good way to be sure would be to use aliases when opening an account online. Also, use long and difficult passwords that contain numbers, symbols, and even capital letters. This will protect your personal information from potential hackers. Put lock codes on your electronic devices that require passwords to access them. Develop a series of passwords that you can store in a safe place for easy access and memory, and train your brain to remember them all.
Another way to protect yourself is to make sure you master your own firm. Practice signing and re-signing your name multiple times. This is particularly useful when using a checkbook or signing your credit card. All signatures must match. Having a photo on your credit card is another safeguard, and is perhaps one of the best deterrents for identity thieves.
The two main points to remember here is that you must have strong login credentials that have symbols, numbers, and long words. The second thing to remember here is your physical signature. It should be long and difficult to copy. You also need to make sure you are consistent with that signature so you don’t forget exactly how to re-sign it.
