Avoiding Identity Theft - 180 Free Technology Tip #96

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Technology Tip Number 96
Who Are You?

Identity theft does happen and it can happen to you if you’re not careful. If you’re worried about it here are some links that you can use to better educate yourself:

How wide spread is the problem?
It’s actually hard to measure ID theft. According to USA Today: “The FTC report determined that fraudsters had opened new accounts or committed similar misdeeds in the names of 3.2 million Americans . . . The average victim lost $1,180 and wasted 60 hours trying to resolve the problem.” More in this story about the actual numbers of ID theft victims here: http://www.usatoday.com (11/13/05)

And there's always more stories in the news about identity theft.

How to protect yourself?

OK, what can the average citizen do to protect themselves? Here’s a couple ideas: “Destroy private records and statements…Empty your mailbox quickly…Safeguard your Social Security number…Never leave ATM, credit card or gas station receipts behind…” for MSN Money’s complete list of Ten Ways to Protect Your Identity check out this link: http://moneycentral.msn.com/

What should kids know about Identity Theft?
They are targets too and they should be careful with their personal information. In informal surveys middle school students report that about 16% of them know someone who has had their identity stolen. Students are particularly vulnerable to phishing scams and they need to be very careful about sharing personal information online. Here’s a link for more information about phishing scams: http://moneycentral.msn.com/content/Savinganddebt/
consumeractionguide/P102559.asp

PRACTICE ACTIVITY: Just take a moment to inventory what information about yourself you gave out in the past week, or the past month. Is there anything else you could be doing to protect your identity?

TO KEEP ON LEARNING: To find more about identity theft try searching the internet for:

How identity theft works
Protecting your identity
Protecting your credit rating

Have a nice day!

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