How to Prevent Identity Theft

There is almost nothing worse than realizing that you have been the victim of identity theft. All of your hard work and private or personal information go down the drain together with any ability to secure your credit. It is true, however, that while there are many measures that can be taken - such as a fraud alert and identity theft insurance, to name a few - to help regain your identity once it has been stolen, it can sometimes take many months to clear your credit report of the erroneous or false information. Therefore, your best bet against having your identity stolen will be prevention. Surprisingly, it is not as daunting as it might seem to help prevent someone from stealing your identity, and by applying the following steps, you can make it a lot more difficult for a criminal to destroy your credit history and personal information.

Your first step in protecting yourself from identity theft is to get a copy of your credit report from all three of the major credit reporting bureaus - Experian, Equifax and TransUnion. Fortunately, under a relatively new law, you will have a right to at least 1 free credit report each year from all three bureaus. Make sure to thoroughly review every bit of information on your credit report, including your name, birth-date, address and work history as well as the information about all of your accounts. If you notice any discrepancies, you will need to inform the credit bureaus right away and file a fraud report. If everything is accurate, then it will be imperative that you be diligent about monitoring your credit report going forward. You can place a fraud alert on your report at any time, however, unless you have actually been a victim of identity theft, then the reporting agencies may charge you an additional fee.

Further ways you will be able to help prevent yourself from identity theft include shredding your bills and any personal mail that may have any type of account information, opting out of unsolicited credit card and insurance offers, and monitoring your credit report every 3 to 6 months. By being careful and more active in your efforts to prevent becoming a victim of identity theft, you can safely ensure that everything you have worked very hard to achieve will remain intact, thus providing you with peace and security for you and your family.