There are several strategies you can take to help avoid identity theft.
- Reduce you reliance on snail mail. Sign up for online statements and use online bill pay. I love online banking and have used it for years. I have swtiched bills over to electronic as soon as it was available from each company. It also leaves you less to shred – no hard copies. If you don’t have ingoing or outgoing mail in your mailbox, your important information can’t be stolen from your box. Use a PO box if you must get snail mail.
- Track your statements. Check transactions on each statement. Reconcile your statements. I use Quicken and have for years. I do direct download from my accounts into Quicken. At the end of the month I can reconcile my accounts in a matter of seconds.
- Set up a secure online security system. Make sure you have ant-virus, anti-spyware and firewall protection. Don’t log into financial accounts on a public or unsecured computer.
- Think carefully about your passwords. Don’t use obvious passwords or the same one over and over again. Using a jumbled combination of letters and numbers is the best. Keep an Excel spreadsheet of all of your passwords but make sure that is also password protected.
Do you have any other suggestions?
