How to Protect Yourself from Identity Theft
Unfortunately, identity theft and the related fraud are becoming ever more common. While this may, in part, be attributed to the rise of internet banking and online transactions, opportunistic thieves can still obtain your personal information by raking through bins, stealing handbags and wallets and cloning cards.
As with any other type of theft, you cannot guarantee identity theft will never happen to you but you can do your bit to minimise your risk.
Leave your ID at home – Unless you need to use your passport, driving license or other personal documents, don’t carry them with you. Keep them stored safely at home and take copies which can then be stored online safely.
De-clutter your wallet – Just as it is wise to leave your ID at home when you don’t need it, consider which cards you will be likely to use each day. While it does require a more planning than keeping everything in your purse or wallet, think about the potential damage should all of your cards go astray at once.
Be clever with passwords – Using a different password for each account and making sure all of them are strong will go a long way towards protecting your identity. We know that it is tempting to use one universal password but remember that means that once one of your accounts has been accessed, they’re all there for the taking. Use capital letters, special characters and numbers when creating a new password. Be as cryptic as you can. Did anyone else the hacker on Radio 4 last week and then rush off to change all their passwords? Just me then! Top tip – use spaces if you can as it makes it a lot more difficult apparently.
Shred, shred, shred – Invest in a cross shredder at home and get into the habit of destroying all personal information when you no longer need it. Bank statements, credit card bills, mobile phone bills and online shopping invoices are all examples of documents which could be used by fraudsters, so don’t give them the chance.
Keep it under lock and key – While shredding will take care of the documents you don’t need to keep, you will also need to deal with those you need to store in the house. A simple lockable filing cabinet is perfect for this purpose; use cardboard dividers to separate your paperwork into categories, lock the drawer and go about your business safe in the knowledge that your identity is as safe as can be!
If you know you need to sort out your paperwork but don’t have any enthusiasm to do so, get in touch and we can do it for you. Neatly and logically filed so you never have to hunt around for the paper you knew was there… somewhere. We can create calm out of your paperwork chaos. Call us today on 0845 269 6922 or contact us via our website.
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