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Having identity theft protection is becoming an increasingly necessary precaution. This type of theft is a rapidly growing crime problem with many avenues in which unscrupulous thieves take advantage of unsuspecting people. Here is some information about identity theft and some things you can do to protect yourself. What is identity theft? It is quite literally when someone steals your identity and then uses it to their own fraudulent advantage. Once your personal information has been compromised, the thief will set up phony credit accounts in your name with the card or money being sent to a false address, often a PO box. The thief will run up the charges and then default on the loan or credit card. This negative information is then reported to the credit bureau and your scores plummet, because from the creditor's perspective, it was YOU who made the charges and are now not paying on them. Identity theft can happen many ways. It is not only a crime that happens when people use the Internet for their financial transactions. Many times a credit card statement will be missing for one cycle. People don't think much about it, but it could be the first indicator of identity theft. You may begin receiving letters or phone calls from creditors that you don't even do business with. Coming back from identity theft is a very long and painful process that can potentially cost you hundreds and even thousands of dollars, not to mention months and even years of time when you cannot get credit for anything. There are ways to get identity theft protection, though. Some common sense things can really save you time and money in the long run. Make sure that you protect all of your personal information. Shred any personal documents like credit card and bank statements, loan statements, even utility bills before you throw them away. Be especially vigilant with anything that has a social security number or bank account number on it. You should also check your credit report at regular intervals. This will help you catch any fraudulent information early on when you can prevent the most damage. Identity theft is not limited to only online activities, but Internet safety is also important. Do not log into any websites on which you will be giving personal information unless they are a secured website. This means that instead of an "http" it should be an "https". Do not respond or log in to any email that is sent to you, even if it looks like it is from your financial institution. Legitimate financial institutions will not ask you for personal information through an email. These types of scams are called phishing, and are very dangerous. There are also many identity theft protection programs available. These programs will send you alerts when suspicious activity occurs on your credit report. They can also help diffuse the costs of disputing fraudulent transactions. If you are interested in this type of program, choose wisely. Not all companies are created equal and some are better than others. One of the premier companies that provides identity theft protection is Life-Lock, where the company even had an advertising campaign where the CEO of the company showed his own social security number in the ad because he felt so extremely safe in doing so! Identity theft is a huge problem in America today. As a consumer you need to be vigilant in guarding your personal information. There are many things that you can do to avoid becoming a victim. Make identity theft protection a priority. You will be glad that you did! For more insights and additional information on how you can get Identity Theft Protection as well as reviewing a special offer from Life-Lock for identity theft protection, please visit our web site at http://www.idtheftprotectiontips.com
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