The protection of your identity this holiday season, and any holiday season for that matter, is very crucial to your financial security. Criminals will be prowling the stores, food courts, and the outlet malls looking for ways to make a quick buck or a “killing.” Not murder, but a lucrative heist on your financial future.

People and things to watch out for when trying to secure your identity

• pickpockets — make sure to keep your belongings safe by keeping them near you at all times. If at all possible, keep the purses and wallets at home. Take with you only what you need: ID card or drivers license and a credit card. Stick them in the front pocket of your pants. I don’t recommend having a large sum of cash on hand.
• shoulder surfers — these are the type of individuals who like to peek over your shoulder and take mental notes of things like:
  • your pin number
  • your credit card information
  • your checking account number information
• ATM scams — these are very hard to detect. You go to your local ATM and try to withdraw money. You stick your debit card into the ATM but no money’s coming out. After you key in your pin number numerous times, you try again. But, once again no success. You decide to give up and move on to another ATM. What you really don’t know is that a tech savvy criminal has just stolen your debit card information. He has the 16 digit number as well as your pin number. What you don’t know is that a device was placed within the frame of the card slot that collects the information for the identity thief.

How to counter these identity theft threats?

In order for you not to become a victim of any of these three threats I recommend doing only what is necessary.

For example, individuals with lavish purses and bulging back pockets filled with cash are more prone to theft than those who bring only the things that are truly necessary. Necessities like a drivers license and a credit card for holiday shopping should be kept in the safest place on you. In my experience, the front pocket of your pants is the best place. I highly recommend wearing jeans so that the contents of your pocket stay there securely.

If you have a shoulder surfer looking over your shoulder you should immediately hide your personal and financial information, or the item of interest, from the perpetrator’s view. Sometimes being bold and demanding can solve the problem. However, this could be a more dangerous technique which can have violent ramifications if you decide to confront the wrong person.

The thing with ATMs is a tricky one. Which ATM is really safe from tech-savvy identity thief? Well, to be honest, no ATM is really safe. If you have to take out cash, take it out from your bank’s ATM. Preferably, use the bank that you frequent the most. I don’t recommend taking money out from a third-party ATM, like those in malls and gas stations.

Secondly, there is something you can do to prevent yourself from becoming a victim, even if you have to take out money from a third-party ATM. You can make sure physically that there is nothing out of the ordinary before you insert your ATM card. Loose pieces, obscure attachments, and protruding wires should be the visible signs of a possible fraud operation. I recommend taking down the phone number that is associated with the ATM, then promptly leaving the location. After you find another safe ATM, finish your shopping, and wind down for miles and miles of walking, give that phone number a ring and report what you saw at the ATM.

I wish you a safe and a happy holiday season.

Free identity theft check. Isn’t that what is expected in the 21st century. It sure is, and I have a way for you to check for identity theft, FREE! You may not believe how many paid services are there to check identity theft. Well, there aren’t many, and the ones that do exist will funnel your hard earned dollars to do what you should be doing yourself to begin with.

With the advent of artificial intelligence, the Internet, and avaricious entrepreneurs you may find yourself offered a panacea. The solution to all worldly troubles won’t save you from identity theft, even if you have a monitoring or checking service instituted.

The free identity theft check is done in a following manner:

1. Check your bills, bank statements, and even junk mail for inconsistencies. Too busy? Hire someone to do that for you. But that could be an id theft risk in itself.
2. Check you online accounts for signs of tampering. This includes your credit card and bank accounts, as well as your email, MySpace or FaceBook accounts, and etc.
3. Check your credit report for free at least 3 times a year. Look for inconsistencies in your personal information, derogatory reports, and open accounts (even with good standing). If you do this online you have an opportunity to contest false reports and correct any infractions. All this from the comforts of your home.
4. Go to your local county building to access county records. You can do so via the Internet as well. You will be surprised how much information you can find as it pertains to identity theft. A neighbor of mine found out that someone that stole his identity had warrants issued for his arrest. So if my neighbor was pulled over for a minor speeding infraction, for example, he would go to jail and face charges that didn’t really pertain to him. He thanked me just for this tip alone after reporting identity theft to the police, credit bureaus, and financial institutions he did business with.
5. Check your computer for viruses, spyware, and other malicious code that can heavily contribute to fraud and identity theft. Anti virus and other software can help prevent identity theft.
6. Repeat when done. Add more items on your checklist as you learn to do these six crucial steps to check for fraud and identity theft.

In the end, there may be a service that can check for some identity theft situations, but majority of them are controlled by you; not a machine or another person. I check for identity theft as often as I can and I highly recommend you do the same.

The most common question I get is: What is Identity Theft?

Identity theft is a white collar crime that is able to touch everyone. This nondiscriminatory crime creates millions of victims annually. These id theft casualties compose of young adults, seasoned retirees, and even children. Identity theft protection is highly recommended when your personal info is vulnerable, but identity theft prevention can alleviate the stresses associated with personal information theft. If it is too late, you might have to report identity theft and make sure that all negative entries are cleaned from your credit record.

These vague statements are true, but how are you to do all these things? What is identity theft protection? How can I prevent identity theft? Where do I report identity theft? And, how do I clear my credit record from personal identity theft?

These questions are not easy to answer. The main purpose of My Identity Theft Blog is to provide you with in-depth analysis of id theft and fraud, provide you with prevention techniques, help you choose the right identity theft protection services, and assist you with the often lengthy clean up process if you have fallen victim to identity thieves. Each id theft question and topic deserves its own explanation. Thus, it can’t be answered in one session. Subscribe to this identity theft blog to get up-to-date information.

Identity theft scams are rampant both in the real world and online. Bank fraud, credit card theft, and the misuse of social security numbers is often a result of identity theft fraud. Identity theft and identity theft fraud are essentially the same concepts but they are somewhat different. When someone commits identity theft it is usually to steal someone’s information. However, when that someone uses this information for illicit purposes it then becomes fraud. The accepted notion that someone is a victim of identity theft actually means that the criminals have perpetrated illegal transactions using the victims identity, essentially committing fraud.

Exactly one week ago I wrote about an identity protection program by Visa for online shoppers. Now, I stumbled upon MaserCard SecureCode which is also aimed at protecting your identity in a similar fashion the Verified by Visa program protects from fraud.

With the Master Card Secure Code you pick a code only known to you. This code is associated with your credit or debit card that features the MC logo.

The cool thing is that the program is free and allows you to shop online safely, or safer as some might say, at select merchants. Why select merchants? The problem with both the Visa and Master Card services is that it hasn’t been accepted by all online retailers. This is often because the online stores are not aware of the programs. Also, preexisting feuds with the credit card conglomerates may have led online companies to opt-out from participating.

What you can do to protect yourself online is to shop at the Internet stores that use Secure Code. If you found a better deal at a business that doesn’t carry the Master Card Secure Code logo you are still okay to shop, as MasterCard already has protection functions built in the credit card. For more info on that contact your credit card company.

The more you know about identity theft, fraud, and your credit card, the better. I wish you a great day.

Visa corporation has a great tool for those that love to spend their paychecks on online shopping needs like: digital cameras, hiking gear, books, and even groceries. This comes at a great time as identity theft is on the rise. Essentially, the program allows you to register your Visa branded credit card or debit card (check card) in a program that adds an extra layer of security to your credit card.

The free service called Verified by Visa helps prevent unauthorized online use before it happens by confirming your identity with an additional password. I think this is very cool in an effort to prevent and protect you from identity theft and credit card fraud. One caveat is that this is offered at certain online retailers and not all Internet based stores

You may be asking: doesn’t Visa already have security measures in place that will protect me from unauthorized charges? It certainly does. However, it is my opinion that Visa, Master Card, Discover, and American Express are feeling the pinch as the extent of id theft is reaching record levels each month. Therefore, extra layers of security from identity thieves, hackers, and fraudsters are set in place. I think this is a win win situation and that it is worth the extra effort to protect yourself from the impact of these white collar crimes.

Why Is It Important To Secure Your Identity From Thieves? This open-ended question, quite frankly, should be self-explanatory. However, you would be surprised by how many people don’t know why.

Identity theft is a white collar crime that strikes people in U.S. by the millions annually. Consider that there are about 300 million people living in America. What happens worldwide with id theft is often on a much grander scale. So the first risk of identity theft is the sheer number of victim cases each year. With such a high number of crime perpetration it would seem that you may fall victim before you even know it. Often, that is the case.

Well, that certainly is not a reason that states “why it is really important to secure your identity?”, but the following 7 reasons should give you an idea:

1. Protect yourself from other criminals that may be after much more than your financial status. These may include assassins, murders, rapists, hostage takers, child abductors, and your weird neighbor next door. Identity theft can be a precursor to other crimes that can range from fraud to murder.
2. Perhaps you should protect your credit report score from dwindling into the low hundreds. With a good to great credit score you can enjoy these benefits: lower APRs, higher credit limits, and Titanium level credit card offers. Delightful!
3. Your bank account balance may stay intact if you try to secure your identity through protection and prevention methods.
4. You won’t get phone calls from creditors asking you to pay a $6,000 bill for a lot of new scooters headed for the United Kingdom.
5. You will sleep better at night knowing your identity is secure from theft and your finances are intact.
6. You will save yourself more money by being able to go to work and not miss those important fun times with your family and friends. If you don’t believe me, imagine that it takes an average of 18 moths for someone to clear their good name. The process is lengthy, costly, and very stressful. In some cases this process seems to never end.
7. You won’t have to get a new social security number, id, driver’s license, passport, bank account, credit cards… well, a new identity. The process of regaining ground after an identity theft crime is often a nightmare. Perhaps this should be the strongest reason for you to secure your identity.

There can be many other reasons or interpretations to why is it important to secure yourself from identity theft. If you have any feel free to comment and I hope these are of some help.

Your credit or debit card was charged one dollar and at this moment you question if this is identity theft. This is a good type of “question” since in all probability you didn’t charge anything that was meriting $1.00.

Before you call your credit card company or your banking establishment you may prefer to recognize that this may be a regular charge. A single dollar charge on your credit or debit card frequently implies you visited a gasoline station. Hence, you were most likely pumping gas and not forking over a buck at a time to con artists.

Countless gas stations like BP, Mobil, Shell, and others charge one dollar onto your card until the entire purchase processes a couple of days later. Unless it is a weekend or else a holiday your entire fuel purchase may possibly surface more than a few days later. In my point of view, gasoline stations conduct this to make certain that your charge card or debit card has the essential credit or funds. So next time you freak out over a one dollar purchase on your bill recall that it is temporary and it will be completely substituted with your gas purchase. In case you needed to know, you will not be devoting a buck extra for your gas charge, only what you paid for at the pump.

There have been identity theft instances where crooks would charge little sums of money onto a credit card and then bring into play bigger transactions to fill their money bags. Unless after 5 to 7 business days your one dollar purchase doesn’t become the entire gasoline charge, you either purchased something for a buck on credit or you are getting swindled. If you have children at home, or some other individuals who may have access to your card, question them if they bought anything with it before you initiate your personal identity theft probe. Kids specifically, may be the perpetrators charging your credit one buck at a time.