05/19/2022
7 Ways to Prevent Identity Theft
1. Check Your Passwords
We talk about the importance of passwords a lot, but there’s a good reason for that: When it comes to cybercrime, we’re often our own worst enemy. Weak or reused passwords make it easy for criminals to gain access our accounts, make off with our information, and from there, steal our identities.
2. Secure Your Networks
Strong, unique passwords are an excellent way to protect yourself from identity theft and other forms of cybercrime. But they’re not a ‘magic bullet’ solution, because criminals don’t always need your password in order to gather enough information about you to steal your identity.
3. Don’t Get Phished
Next to weak passwords, falling for phishing scams is one of the most common ways that people give away their own data—and this can lead to identity theft. Phishing is pervasive for the simple reason that it works: Even large organizations and governments have fallen victim to these attacks.
4. Beware of Phone Scams
Not all phishing attacks are delivered by email. Be on the lookout for phone phishing, a type of attack in which malicious actors call their targets pretending to be from a company or a government agency in an attempt to convince them to give up sensitive information.
5. Don’t Forget About Old-School Threats
Identify thieves aren’t all master hackers: Many will resort to decidedly low-tech means to commit their crimes. Although it’s less common these days, criminals still go through paper waste to find personal information that can be used to commit fraud or steal someone’s identity.
6. Check Your Credit
One of the reasons that identity theft is so hard to recover from is that it often goes unnoticed until the problem is fairly severe. If criminals rack up several months’ worth of charges on fraudulently opened credit cards, it can take a tremendous amount of time and effort to undo the damage.
7. Flag It or Freeze It
Sometimes, despite all our precautions, the worst can happen. So what should you do if you have reason to believe that your information or identity may have been stolen, or that a fraudulent attempt to open a credit account in your name is imminent?