Greetings and welcome to another Monday Morning Mentor. I’m JJ Childers. Thanks to the technological revolution of computers, telecommunications, the internet, and so forth, one of the newest, and most heinous, crimes we all need to be aware of is identity theft. Identity theft occurs when an individual uses another person’s identity to secure credit, i.e., borrowing money and/or purchasing goods and services using the victim’s name. According to the FBI, 500,000 to 700,000 Americans each year fall victims to identity theft.
Fortunately, there are things you can do to help ward off identity thieves. First, always keep all of your personal information safe. You don’t want to have PIN numbers written on your credit cards, for example. Secondly, limit the amount of personal information you keep on your person. You should never keep your social security card in your wallet or purse. Third, be very careful when it comes to who you give you personal information too. You should never provide personal information in response to mail, telemarketing calls, or emails which claim to be from a legitimate business. And finally, everyone should obtain their own credit history periodically because it is a great way to see if someone is using your identity. Make sure that all the accounts which are listed in the history are ones that you have opened up yourself.
