There are many steps you can take to protect yourself from identity theft, from simple things like shredding old personal documents and changing passwords to more advanced measures like freezing your credit reports. Guarding against identity theft is important because it saves you a lot of time and money in the long run. There were more than 1.1 million reports of identity theft last year, according to the FTC, so you should make prevention a priority.
Top Ways to Protect Yourself From Identity Theft
- Monitor your credit accounts.
- Monitor your other financial accounts.
- Monitor your transactions.
- Freeze your credit reports.
- Pay attention to fraud notifications.
- Use credit cards for $0 fraud liability.
- Cut down on pre-screened credit offers.
- If you didn’t seek it out, don’t act on it.
- Don’t give out financial information when contacted.
- Be careful with your SSN.
- Monitor your info on the dark web.
- Avoid public computers and Wi-Fi.
- Make sure websites you use are secure.
- Use strong passwords and change them regularly.
- Enable two-factor authentication.
- Lock your mailbox.
- Destroy old documents.
- Keep photocopies of the items in your wallet.
FINANCIAL ACCOUNTS
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Monitor your credit accounts.
WalletHub offers free 24/7 credit monitoring to give you peace of mind. We’ll let you see both your full TransUnion credit report and a summary of recent changes so you can stay on top of anything that looks suspicious.
Other credit monitoring services will also let you monitor your activity from one or two credit bureaus for free, or from all three bureaus for a monthly fee.
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Monitor your other financial accounts.
It’s not just credit cards and loans that you should be worried about when it comes to identity theft. Your checking accounts, savings accounts, IRA accounts, money market accounts and other financial accounts are also vulnerable. In fact, non-credit accounts are among the most vulnerable to fraud, according to the FTC.
Upgrading to WalletHub Premium+ will give you access to advanced monitoring of your financial accounts that can tip you off to anything suspicious and keep you protected.
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Monitor your transactions.
Every month when you receive your credit card and bank statements, you should look over them to make sure there are no unauthorized purchases or transfers. You can also do this more often than once a month by reviewing the latest information in your online account. If you see anything that seems inaccurate, contact your financial institution right away.
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Freeze your credit reports.
When you freeze your credit, it restricts access to your credit reports, making it more challenging for unauthorized individuals to open new accounts in your name. Once you’ve set a freeze, you can leave it in place until you choose to remove it.
You can learn how to freeze your report with each bureau below. Also, keep in mind that if you upgrade your account to WalletHub Premium, you can easily lock and unlock your TransUnion credit report and receive alerts about attempted inquiries while your credit report is locked.
First Step: Contact the Credit Bureaus
- Equifax: Visit the Equifax website or call 1-800-349-9960.
- Experian: Visit the Experian website or call 1-888-397-3742.
- TransUnion: Visit the TransUnion website or call 1-888-909-8872.
Second Step: Provide Necessary Information
You will need to provide personal information, including your name, address, date of birth, Social Security number, and other relevant details.
Third Step: Receive a PIN
After initiating the freeze, each credit bureau will provide you with a unique Personal Identification Number (PIN). Keep this PIN in a secure place, as you will need it to easily unfreeze your credit temporarily or permanently.
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Pay attention to fraud notifications.
Your financial institutions will often automatically have systems in place to notify you if they detect suspicious activity on your accounts. However, in some cases, you may need to opt in to receive these alerts. Check with your financial institutions to make sure that you’re signed up.
If you receive a notification of potential fraud, either confirm that the transaction is legitimate or report it as fraudulent to safeguard your account. Your bank may take measures like issuing you a new credit or debit card with a new number.
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Use credit cards for $0 fraud liability.
All four major credit card networks guarantee that you won’t be held liable for fraudulent purchases. Plus, since credit cards don’t take money out of your bank until you pay for your purchases, you have plenty of time to discover and report fraud. As a result, credit cards protect you more than other payment methods.
If you do find fraudulent purchases on your credit card, you should report them to your issuer immediately.
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Cut down on pre-screened credit offers.
Pre-approved credit card offers are one piece of mail that identity thieves use to get information. If you don’t want these offers showing up at your house, you can legally ask for them to stop by going to optoutprescreen.com or calling 1-888-567-8688. You can always reverse this decision later on if you change your mind.
It’s worth noting that many credit card companies let you check for pre-approval online, so you don’t really need to get offers in the mail.
IMPOSTERS
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If you didn’t seek it out, don’t act on it.
Avoid clicking email links or attachments from people, companies or organizations you don’t know or didn’t sign up to receive emails from, as this can leave your devices vulnerable to viruses and hackers. There are also a lot of sites that will try to trick you into clicking on malicious links, adding a custom browser plugin, or installing software.
For example, you might get a pop-up telling you your computer is infected and you need to install a certain software to get rid of the issue. Or, if you’re trying to watch a video, the site might tell you that you need to install a special plugin, video player, or app. Avoid clicking links when you’re not certain where they will go, and close the browser window if you receive a pop-up asking to install anything you don’t want.
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Don’t give out financial information when contacted.
If someone calls you claiming to be from your bank, the police, the IRS or some other entity requesting your personal or financial information and you didn’t initiate the contact, you should always assume they are not legitimate.
People Who Won’t Contact You Out of the Blue
- Your bank
- The police
- The IRS
- Other government agencies
- Your insurance company
- Tech support companies
If you ever get a call of this nature, you should hang up/ignore it and call the official number of whoever it supposedly was. For example, if your bank called asking about your credit card, call the actual number on the back of your credit card to check if there are any issues. If you get a similar type of email, report it as fraudulent without opening it or clicking anything.
DIGITAL FOOTPRINT
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Be careful with your SSN.
Your Social Security number is probably the most valuable piece of information to someone who wants to steal your identity. You should make sure to never give it out to anyone unless you are certain you are providing it for a legitimate purpose, like opening a financial product or filling out tax paperwork.
Don’t carry your Social Security card with you either. Keep it at home in a safe location.
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Monitor your info on the dark web.
Monitoring your information on the dark web is an essential part of protecting your privacy nowadays. Stolen personal data often surfaces in illegal marketplaces, making early detection vital. For example, monitoring allows you to identify compromised credentials or accounts swiftly so you can fix any issues before any harm is done.
Luckily, you don’t have to browse the dark web yourself to stay protected. WalletHub Premium will let you know when your info pops up in unsavory places.
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Avoid public computers and Wi-Fi.
Entering your personal or financial information on public computers or public Wi-Fi puts that information at risk of being accessed by other people. Ideally, you should only use your own devices and your own internet. However, there are ways to protect yourself on both public and private devices and networks.
Only Connect to Known Networks
Make sure you confirm the networks you connect to are legitimate. Some malicious people set up fake Wi-Fi connections with similar names to existing networks. When you connect to these networks, they will monitor your activity.
Before you connect to any network, look out for network names that are misspelled compared to what you’re used to, or sets of two names that are almost identical. Also, be wary of generic names, like “Free Airport Wi-Fi.” Ultimately, the best way to make sure you are using a legitimate network is to ask whoever’s in charge of the Wi-Fi what the name is.
Use a VPN
Using a VPN, or virtual private network, prevents other people from seeing what information you send over the internet. Installing a VPN on your computer and phone is especially helpful if you plan to use it with unsecured public Wi-Fi networks, as those can leave your activity exposed to anyone else who might be connected.
Most VPNs only cost a few dollars per month, so they’re definitely a worthwhile investment for your privacy and safety. Don’t opt for a free VPN, though, because your data could become the product being sold by the provider.
Use Antivirus Software
Outdated software or devices without protection can leave you vulnerable to hackers and data breaches. Signs your data is at risk include:
- Frequent computer crashes
- Damaged or deleted files
- Slowed down performance
- Data loss
Computers typically come with some degree of antivirus protection, but you can always get additional protection from reputable sources. Just make sure to do research on what companies are legitimate before downloading anything.
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Make sure websites you use are secure.
To protect yourself from identity theft online, make sure to only enter personal information on websites with URLs starting with “https” (the s stands for “secure”). Also, always take a moment to see if something looks off with the site URL – like if the name is slightly misspelled.
The reason this is important is because bad actors sometimes create fake websites that look like real ones belonging to legitimate companies or financial institutions in order to get you to enter your personal information. In addition, legitimate websites sometimes don’t have adequate security.
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Use strong passwords and change them regularly.
If you use a weak password on a site that contains your personal or financial information, you run the risk of getting hacked and having your information stolen. Fortunately, most sites do require passwords that contain a combination of uppercase letters, lowercase letters, numbers and symbols now. The longer your password is, the more difficult it becomes to guess, as well.
After you’ve created a strong password, try to commit it to memory. Don’t leave it written down in an obvious place. Or, use a trustworthy password manager program to keep track of it for you. If you sign up for WalletHub Premium, we’ll also tell you when your passwords show up on the dark web.
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Enable two-factor authentication.
Two-factor authentication helps protect you from identity theft by adding an extra layer of verification to things like your emails, bank accounts, and more. In addition to a password, users must provide a second form of authentication, often a code sent to their mobile device. This ensures that even if a password is compromised, people can’t gain unauthorized access to your account without the second factor.
You should set up two-factor authentication on any accounts that allow you to do so, especially your email account and anything with a payment method connected to it.
PHYSICAL FOOTPRINT
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Lock your mailbox.
Locking your mailbox is a good way to prevent identity theft. Unsecured mail is an easy target for thieves seeking personal information. With access to your mailbox, they can steal sensitive documents like bank statements, credit card offers, and personal correspondence. By installing a lock but leaving a slot for the mail carrier to put things in, you add a layer of protection.
If you don’t want to lock your mailbox but still want to protect yourself when you’ll be out of town for an extended period, make sure to ask the post office to hold any mail or packages until you return.
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Destroy old documents.
You don’t need to keep certain documents with your personal and financial information on them forever. However, if you just toss them in the trash, it’s possible for someone to go through them and use that information to commit identity theft. Instead, you should shred or burn these documents so they can’t be used by criminals.
Destroy old documents you no longer need, including:
- Papers that show your Social Security number
- Bank account information
- Credit/debit card information
- Purchase records
- Bills
- Paystubs
- Tax information
You should also cut up any expired credit or debit cards that you have before disposing of them.
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Keep photocopies of the items in your wallet.
If your wallet is stolen, getting new copies of everything that’s inside can be a big pain. You can make the process easier by keeping photocopies of the items in it, so you have all the relevant details on hand.
Items to Make Photocopies Of
- Credit cards
- Debit cards
- Other payment cards
- Driver’s license/other identification
- Insurance card
Taking the steps described above will make you a much tougher target for identity thieves in general. No matter how careful you are, though, it’s still possible that you could become a victim of identity theft. Therefore, it’s a good idea to have coverage with a strong identity theft insurance plan and access to identity theft restoration experts.
If you haven’t upgraded yet, trying WalletHub Premium can increase your identity theft protection dramatically. Sure, we’re biased to suggest this, but it is an objectively good deal. You will get $1 million in identity theft insurance, access to an identity restoration specialist, alerts if your information is found on the dark web and more.
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