Comments on: 9 Quick and Easy Tips to Prevent Identity Theft

By: Jenny

Jenny — Tue, 19 May 2009 18:17:48 +0000

@Cy Reed - never thought of that. Good advice! Jenny’s last blog post..Corporate Data Breaches: Thieves Looking for Your Identity

By: Cy Reed

Cy Reed — Tue, 19 May 2009 11:37:48 +0000

I always remove and shred the labels from prescriptions containers before disposing of them. They contain a lot of info about you; in addition to the usual info it may also expose a condition or disability that could potentially be exploited in any number of ways. Particularly important for the elderly.

By: Jenny

Jenny — Mon, 18 May 2009 19:31:29 +0000

@Jeff, @wisemoney mattters – the thing about shredding is that it can provide a false sense of security. most people use a paper shredder religiously (and thats great) but don’t make the connection about what they’re shredding… mostly what comes in their UNLOCKED unsecured mailbox. you can’t shred what you don’t get… and most people don’t notice (at least for awhile) if/when their mail goes missing.

I always say, why would a thief rummage through your garbage or a dump when they can simply walk down the street and open your mailbox, casually take what they want and walk away… with your credit card statement, account numbers, maybe even social security number or checks. For more on this, see: http://www.mailboss.net/catch-up-22/ “Catch (Up) 22 – The venerable paper shredder: You can only shred the mail you get!”

I will argue you must protect sensitive information at its source, and the FIRST line of defense against identity theft is a security locking mailbox. Then, of course, you should shred the mail before discarding it.

By: Three Frugal Ways To Protect Personal Information From Disasters | StretchyDollar

Tue, 12 May 2009 17:34:31 +0000

[...] not only from natural disasters, but from thieves as well. I’d recommend checking out this post on identity theft by Your Money [...]

By: Carnival of Personal Finance #204 | Earn What You Spend

Carnival of Personal Finance #204 | Earn What You Spend — Mon, 11 May 2009 12:05:48 +0000

[...] Here are 9 Quick and Easy Tips to Prevent Identity Theft. [...]

By: Link roundup from my loyal readers | Tomasz Gorecki | Debt In Your 20's Is The Kiss of Death

Fri, 08 May 2009 04:42:37 +0000

[...] 9 quick and ways tips to prevent identity theft [...]

By: Birdie

Birdie — Wed, 06 May 2009 14:58:43 +0000

Great article! Very good tips. I was especially interested in the advice to have yourself removed from the pre-approved credit lists. That was new to me and I will be doing that.

One thing I’ve learned to watch for since I moved, keep renewing your change of addresses even if you’ve changed your info. I get mail from people who lived in my house 5 years ago! Some of it credit card offers and a couple are old friends who are trying to get back in touch! Not only that, if you have adult kids, sometimes when they move, your mail gets changed and you start getting credit card offers in your name to their addresses INCLUDING their old ones! I haven’t figured out a great solution to that other than sending in change of addresses for those too! All it takes is one dishonest turkey at an old address! Rather frustrating to say the least!

But your great list will be a definitely help for the part I can do. Thanks again!

By: Adam

Adam — Wed, 06 May 2009 12:13:16 +0000

@Jesse – Great points! I think all of the readers should take it from you that it is important. Like you said, just because someone says they are something, doesn’t mean that they are.

By: Jesse

Jesse — Wed, 06 May 2009 04:13:58 +0000

I think #6 is one of the most important. I am in the IT industry and far too many times I will call a user and just say “I’m with IT” and bam I get their username, password and I am sure anything else I asked for. I used to work at a bank as their IT and it was the same story. I could go into a branch beyond the regular hours and say the magic words and I would be in the bank before or after closing with far too little supervision to do my IT thing.
The moral of the story, just because someone says “I’m IT” doesnt mean they really are. Be careful especially at work. The greatest hacker of all time was a social engineering guru on top of being a genius with computers and he attributes the social engineering with his break ins more than his computer skills.

By: Adam

Adam — Wed, 29 Apr 2009 16:11:03 +0000

@Tom – I kind of addressed the phishing emails in #6 but it does need more stressing. You wouldn’t think that people would fall for something like that but it happens every day.

I haven’t heard of the lottery one. Can you clarify on that a little?