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Although many people think this fact should be obvious, the reality is that many people are simply not smart when it comes to handling their personal information, and who they willingly give that information to. This carelessness creates a virtual field day for identity theft opportunities to create havoc for such people. The really sad thing is that the safeguards required are common sense and protection can be had at a very lost cost. The theft of someone else's identity continues to be one of the fastest growing crimes of this century, according to multiple studies and reports. How can this happen in today's society? People should not become paranoid, says Robert Wheeler of the Federal Banking Administration, but then again, a bit of paranoia about identity theft is probably a preferred option to carelessness or taking a very lax view of the possibility of becoming a victim. Identify theft is by no means limited to online transactions, and in fact, the cases of identity theft attributed to online transactions is actually LOWER than reported cases from offline transactions. Think about it – if you have a decent credit rating, you probably get at least one or two letters a week via the post office (not spam, but delivered by the USPS) saying that you have been pre-approved for a credit card or refinancing your mortgage or your car loan. What do you do with such letters? If you are like most people, you probably throw them in the trash. But that is where the problem can start – identity theft thieves do a fair amount of "dumpster diving" to find such documents in the trash, which frequently contain more than enough information about you for them to steal your identity. What should you do with such letters? You can get an inexpensive paper shredder at almost any office supply store, like OfficeMax or Best Buy. Instead of just throwing such documents into the trash, shred them first, which makes them unusable by the thieves searching for a victim by dumpster diving. The biggest reason for being concerned about identity theft is that if you become a victim, you can look forward to having a trashed credit rating for the next several years, plus spending hour upon hour of time with creditors you have never heard of, trying to explain to a very skeptical customer service agent that you are a victim of identity theft. For a victim of identity theft, the personal time required getting it straightened out ranges from several weeks to several years, and with the hectic pace of today's society, nobody has that kind of personal time to dedicate to resolving this issue. Rather, take the time to be aware of identity theft and how it can happen, then watch for things you can do differently where you need to provide your personal information, which can open you up to become the latest victim of identity theft. A little bit of time spent on the precautionary front can save you a bundle of time spent later trying to straighten out a problem that would not have occurred if you had been more careful with your personal information. Jon is a computer engineer with extensive experience in many areas. For more information about Identity Theft please visit his web site at http://www.identity-theft-info.com
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identity theft, identity theft protection, prevent identity theft,
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