Free AI web copilot to create summaries, insights and extended knowledge, download it at here

Abstract

theft:</p><ul><li>7 hours for a single incident</li><li>1200 hours on average, over the course of a year</li><li>cost upward of $25 or more per hour to hire a professional</li></ul><p id="6c46">Common-sense measures can help protect your identity.</p><h2 id="369b">Check your credit</h2><p id="5767">Each year you can get a free credit report from the biggest three credit companies: Trans Union, Equifax, and Experian. Sometimes free is still free. You’ll go through a series of questions to confirm your identity and receive a free credit report. Analyze it for discrepancies and reporting errors.</p><p id="55f7">Resolve any issues that you see reported. If identity theft occurs, you have a much better chance of catching and stopping the crime before more damage occurs.</p><h2 id="f89b">Create good passwords</h2><p id="119a">Good passwords are strong passwords. Hear, <a href="https://readmedium.com/is-it-possible-to-color-life-pretty-5537757c106d?source=friends_link&sk=cc980e0430092594f6bad19dac30ffad">passwords that do not include</a> the name of your family pet, your birthday, your kid’s birthdate, or your anniversary. Passwords that include a personal connection are easier to hack. Use a password generator that creates 10–16 characters and uses a combination of upper case letters, lower case letters, special characters, and numbers.</p><p id="1b3a">You'll never remember your passwords for any application and that’s a good thing because it’s more difficult for your identity to get stolen. You’re sign-in to applications comes from password information stored in a vault that you visit to get your password as you need to use it. The passwords you use often will autofill seamlessly.</p><p id="5ade"><a href="https://www.consumersadvocate.org/password-manager/a/best-password-manager?pd=true&keyword=random%20password%20generator&gca_campaignid=958851270&gca_adgroupid=76220191624&gca_matchtype=p&gca_network=g&gca_device=c&gca_adposition=1t2&gca_loc_interest_ms=&gca_loc_physical_ms=9028275&gclid=Cj0KCQiAgebwBRDnARIsAE3eZjTzgKc0F1yfYQKsPlwby998wauVv2c8HSvM9I_J7A3skPBcv3eSfNYaAuK_EALw_wcB">Consumer Advocate </a>suggests these as top-performing password managers that charge a nominal monthly fee:</p><ul><li>DashLane</li><li>Roboform</li><li>1 Password</li><li>Sticky Password</li><li>Iolo Technologies</li><li>My Pass Lock</li><li>Every Key</li><li>Zoho</li></ul><p id="94a0">There are free password generators like Last Pass, Norton Identity Safe Password Generator, and Strong Password Generator. This kind of identity protection doesn’t have to come with a monetary cost.</p><h2 id="fab0">Who’s at risk?</h2><p id="b3fb">Anyone wit

Options

h a Social Security number is at risk. Your children can be at risk for identity theft, even if they don’t use credit or have a credit history. While you check your credit report annually, be sure to check credit reports for kids too. You don’t want kids applying for a car loan, college loans, or financial aid only to find someone has stolen their identity. Stay proactive by checking kids’ credit history annually.</p><h2 id="46a5">Social media makes you susceptible</h2><p id="30b9">Any<a href="https://readmedium.com/stop-kids-from-using-social-media-and-stop-hidden-dangers-65e2536f2f9e?source=friends_link&sk=3173db096d43437b39c5fb96fa046712"> information you share online</a> makes you susceptible. If you share kid’s births and birthdays it’s easy math for a criminal. Share a name and a birthdate and that’s easy picking for a person who intends to steal your identity. Minimize sharing personal data. Think twice about sharing your own birthday or the birthday of family members, especially if you use those numbers in passwords too.</p><h2 id="0f74">Identity theft protection</h2><p id="e4d6">If you are <a href="https://readmedium.com/stop-to-nurture-your-soul-youll-be-glad-you-did-3c6877effe30?source=friends_link&sk=05add887063ac92034965b7de098a9df">overly concerned</a> about identity theft you can buy an insurance protection plan. Some are pricey. My bank offers a protection plan for $5 per month. This one incident could have cost me a lot of money. Combine that incident with two other incidents that could have happened on the same day and this becomes a no-brainer for me. The cost is low and the risk is high.</p><p id="d1a4">Many theft opportunities are reduced by awareness.</p><h2 id="29f3">Stay aware</h2><p id="7245">You cannot eliminate the risks of identity theft, but you can stay aware. Lock devices and cell phones. Watch your bank accounts for irregular charges and activity and report discrepancies to your bank immediately. In an <a href="https://readmedium.com/surround-your-business-with-excellent-people-for-success-853ae028b30c?source=friends_link&sk=a0dd7bfc38e2fcf2c45cf0d361d6119d">online transactional world</a>, you cannot live in constant fear of what may happen, but you can stay aware and take action quickly if your identity is compromised.</p><p id="bc1e">Keep living, shopping, being a consumer, and transacting business online, but put safety measures in place and buy yourself peace of mind that you’ve been proactive in protecting your identity.</p><p id="247d"><i>Originally published at <a href="https://www.publishousnow.com/you-dont-have-to-be-a-victim-of-identity-theft/">https://www.publishousnow.com</a>.</i></p></article></body>

How to Not Be a Victim of Identity Theft

Enjoy peace of mind

Every day we buy goods and services online. Each month thousands of ambitious entrepreneurs open online businesses. As more brick-and-mortar businesses like Best Buy, Radio Shack, Sears, JCPenney, Kmart, and others fail or report struggles due to same-day and next-day online services, we can expect the number of online transactions to increase exponentially.

By 2021, over 2.14 billion people worldwide are expected to buy goods and services online, up from 1.66 billion global digital buyers in 2016, according to IDTheftService.

Identity theft happens every 2 seconds.

Hardly a day goes by when we don’t hear of a data breach of a major company. Our identity is at risk, stolen, or information handled improperly.

Recently, I received notice of theft, myself. After a hectic day, while relaxing with the family and watching some television, an alert came that more than $700 was being spent online at Target and my blood pressure immediately began rising. Relaxing moments were replaced with the stress that almost $800 was in jeopardy.

A quick call to the bank had the charges reversed within moments, which was a relief, but the call also revealed that two other attempts had been made to purchase gift cards at Lowe’s. The bank somehow recognized those transactions as fraudulent and stopped them from happening in the first place. I shudder to think about how much money the theft could have cost.

Consider how many online transactions you make every day. If you haven’t been a victim of identity theft yet, the odds are good that you or someone in your immediate family will be affected at least once during his or her lifetime.

You don’t have to wait until a theft has occurred to implement ways to protect yourself. It can take countless hours to recover from identity theft:

7 hours for a single incident
1200 hours on average, over the course of a year
cost upward of $25 or more per hour to hire a professional

Common-sense measures can help protect your identity.

Check your credit

Each year you can get a free credit report from the biggest three credit companies: Trans Union, Equifax, and Experian. Sometimes free is still free. You’ll go through a series of questions to confirm your identity and receive a free credit report. Analyze it for discrepancies and reporting errors.

Resolve any issues that you see reported. If identity theft occurs, you have a much better chance of catching and stopping the crime before more damage occurs.

Create good passwords

Good passwords are strong passwords. Hear, passwords that do not include the name of your family pet, your birthday, your kid’s birthdate, or your anniversary. Passwords that include a personal connection are easier to hack. Use a password generator that creates 10–16 characters and uses a combination of upper case letters, lower case letters, special characters, and numbers.

You'll never remember your passwords for any application and that’s a good thing because it’s more difficult for your identity to get stolen. You’re sign-in to applications comes from password information stored in a vault that you visit to get your password as you need to use it. The passwords you use often will autofill seamlessly.

Consumer Advocate suggests these as top-performing password managers that charge a nominal monthly fee:

DashLane
Roboform
1 Password
Sticky Password
Iolo Technologies
My Pass Lock
Every Key
Zoho

There are free password generators like Last Pass, Norton Identity Safe Password Generator, and Strong Password Generator. This kind of identity protection doesn’t have to come with a monetary cost.

Who’s at risk?

Anyone with a Social Security number is at risk. Your children can be at risk for identity theft, even if they don’t use credit or have a credit history. While you check your credit report annually, be sure to check credit reports for kids too. You don’t want kids applying for a car loan, college loans, or financial aid only to find someone has stolen their identity. Stay proactive by checking kids’ credit history annually.

Social media makes you susceptible

Any information you share online makes you susceptible. If you share kid’s births and birthdays it’s easy math for a criminal. Share a name and a birthdate and that’s easy picking for a person who intends to steal your identity. Minimize sharing personal data. Think twice about sharing your own birthday or the birthday of family members, especially if you use those numbers in passwords too.

Identity theft protection

If you are overly concerned about identity theft you can buy an insurance protection plan. Some are pricey. My bank offers a protection plan for $5 per month. This one incident could have cost me a lot of money. Combine that incident with two other incidents that could have happened on the same day and this becomes a no-brainer for me. The cost is low and the risk is high.

Many theft opportunities are reduced by awareness.

Stay aware

You cannot eliminate the risks of identity theft, but you can stay aware. Lock devices and cell phones. Watch your bank accounts for irregular charges and activity and report discrepancies to your bank immediately. In an online transactional world, you cannot live in constant fear of what may happen, but you can stay aware and take action quickly if your identity is compromised.

Keep living, shopping, being a consumer, and transacting business online, but put safety measures in place and buy yourself peace of mind that you’ve been proactive in protecting your identity.

Originally published at https://www.publishousnow.com.