According to FTC identity theft is one of the largest consumer complaint in the country after the auction fraud. The most important aspect of identity theft is that the people of which identity was stolen don’t know about this fact just until they check their credit score. Generally, people use expensive services like: credit repair and monitoring, id theft insurance or credit card insurance. This services aren’t a bad thing, but most of them are pretty expensive. In order to reduce your cost  and avoid identity theft you should try to follow some or all of the next steps:

1. Do a check on your credit report regularly. I think you must get a credit report tree months to be assured that you don’t have errors and fraud. This check must be done and extended also for your family members in order to eliminate any doubt. You can get a credit report free on this websites :
- www.annualcreditreport.com
- www.equifax.com
- www.experian.com
- www.transunion.com
After you get a report you can tell if you are a identity theft victim or not.

2.Take a GOOD look on your credit card statements. You must assure that you haven’t been billed for products/services that you didn’t buyied. The fraudsters check your credit card through online merchants and donation sites by placing a small fee from $1 to $5.

3. Enroll your cards. Visa and MasterCard offer good services for identity theft protection. Follow this sites and the instructions on it and your id should be more safe.
- Verified by VISA – www.verifiedbyvisa.com
- SecureCode by MasterCard – www.mastercard.com/securecode/

4. Use a credit freeze. You can freeze your credit report, meaning that nobody, even if they have your Social Security ( SSN) number, can access your credit report until you provide a personal identification number, also known as PIN.

5. Avoid dealing with checks. To protect your identity try to avoid checks because it have many personal information on them, which can be used by fraudsters, and also they can copy it.

6. Don’t be a victim of phishing. This phenomenon has gone to a big scale, so your chance to exposed your information through fake sites has increased. Don’t open mails from unknown senders or companies. For better phishing protection check my others posts.

7. When you shop online try to use only big , known sites or try to find feedback from another customers.

8. Stay focused on every discussion because if it is let’s say, a phone interview for a fake job they will try to ask you sensitive information like security social number or date of birth.

9. Pay attention on what you throw in trash. A good list of things that you don’t want to throw in order to protect you from identity theft is here

10. Use fraud alerts. I tried to find a free service, but in order to get a decent identity theft protection you must use a paid service. Some of the best services are required for a small fee like $10/month, but they provide the best identity theft protection. You can use:
- Life Lock Click here to get a 10% discount.

- IdentityTruth 7 Day Free Trial

Bottom line: except point 10 you can protect your identity for free, so this is the reason why YOU are the best identity theft protection.

Be safe

1.    File a fraud warning on your credit reports and examine the credit reports that you get as a result. You may call any one of the three leading credit bureaus to send the fraud alert.
2.    Terminate any accounts that have been opened illegally.
3.    File a complete report with your local police.
4.    File a complaint notice with the FTC.

As you start the process of recovering your identity, the paper work will begin. Maintaining a good paper trail will help you support and assemble your case. The Identity Theft Resource Center provides some useful guidelines for organizing your data in their website. The FTC also provides advices for organizing your identity theft case. In general, you need to:
Keep duplicates of all forms or correspondence you send.
Write down the name of person you talk to, what he told you, and the date of the conversation.
Keep the original documents, like letters to and from creditors and police reports; send the copies only.
Establish a filing system for quick access to your paperwork.
Keep unused files even if your case is settled.  One of the most annoying and difficult things of identity theft is that wrong information may resurface on your credit reports. Should this occur, you will be grateful you kept your files.

Encryption utilizes digital keys to encrypt and decrypt data while it’s being sent over the Internet, which makes it incredibly hard for anyone but the intended receiver to tamper or see. Through encryption, a key on the transmitting end locks data, and the key on the receiving end unlocks it. While the information in en route, good encryption technique makes it virtually impracticable for outsiders to peep or meddle with the information -in your case, your financial and personal data. SSL (Secure Sockets Layer) is the standard technology of information security on the Internet. Secure Sockets Layer uses digital certificates to confirm that the two computers in an information transaction are valid before exchanging the encryption keys. Before you use the credit card to buy merchandise online – in fact, before you type any of your personal data online -you want to be certain the site uses 128-bit SSL to keep your personal data secure. Checking this is simple – in the bottom-right corner of the browser, just look for the lock icon. If you put the mouse pointer over the icon, you may even see a popup that says SSL 128. If you double click the icon, you see information, which tells you that the site’s status is authentic and the data traffic is encrypted.

Encryption can also be employed to protect e-mail messages as well as personal information files that you store on your personal computer. The encryption software known as Pretty Good Privacy (PGP) enables you to encrypt this important data yourself. PGP offers a freeware version (free software) for home use.

VeriSign uses another method to know that the site you are visiting is trustworthy. You’re most likely find the VeriSign icon on the site’s security and privacy page. If you click the VeriSign icon, you get a window that tells you what security steps that site is using within VeriSign. Because familiar logos and names like VeriSign give people confidence, of course, online fraudsters try to use them in unscrupulous techniques. Savvy identity thieves can build a site, imitate a logo, or create their own certificates. Use SSL (Secure Sockets Layer) and the VeriSign digital logo and certificates as indicators to make sure the web site you’re visiting really the organization or company it claims to be.

Unfortunately for us, it is reasonably easy for identity thieves to grab other people’s personal data and ply their trade. For instance, suppose that you misplace (or someone steals) your bag. From your bag, they obtain your driver’s license (with your name, street address, and DOB), credit cards (department store cards, gas cards and others), ATM cards (if you’re a forgetful person, complete with PIN numbers written down clearly), and also medical benefits cards (with your SSN). Many people even carry their Social Security cards and personal checkbooks in their wallets. All the crucial information an identity thief wants is right there in one location.

Identity thieves can also grab your personal information in a midnight garbage safari trip also known as dumpster diving. Yes, these people will literally go through those stinky garbage cans in front of victim houses and scrounge important data such as cancelled checks, utility bill statements, bank statements, credit card receipts, and the pre-approved credit card they’ve been throwing away. Remember this important advice: “If you do not shred it, it is not dead yet”. The non-shredded personal data you’ve discarded in the trash becomes free stuffs and those identity thieves will thank you for being so kind.

Identity thieves have a lot of techniques – some rather sophisticated and high-tech – to get your personal data, garbage and wallets are the most frequent targets. The point is that right after the thief has your personal data; he can quickly assume your identity (financially) and start making transaction, getting money or loans, and using your good credit record.

The FTC study shows that identity theft may happen to anyone, nearly all men, women and children are vulnerable victims. Yes, even children are vulnerable to identity theft since many teenagers (over 16) have a SSN, and every child has a DOB. Identity thief doesn’t care about your age; he just wants your personal data they can use to grab the credit. The distressing part is that you may become a victim and not know immediately. For example, you may discover you’re an identity theft victim only when you go to purchase a SUV and get turned down for car loan because your credit report already records three unpaid cars. If you can catch it early, however, you can reduce the amount of money and time necessary to clear up your reputation.

When an identity thief goes through the garbage of potential victim, it is known as dumpster diving. The only tools required are flashlight and a pair of gloves. (The best time to go on a garbage hunt is midnight, and the thief must be able to endure the scent – especially on a warm summer night.) The goal of dumpster diving is to get personal data that you discard without shredding or tearing. What type of important data, you may be wondering? The following list provides you with the answer:

• Pre-approved credit card forms: Tossing away those pre-approved credit card forms without shredding, tearing or burning them is asking for trouble. An Identity thief can find the forms from your garbage, send it in with the home address altered, and receive the brand-new cards in your identity. After receiving the credit card, the thief makes transaction (or cash advances) to the credit card up to its maximum limit in short order. Then, he throws away the card and leaves you dumbfounded with the bill.
• Credit card receipts: Even many companies no longer print your complete credit card number on the receipts, some still do this. Examine your receipt – if it has your credit card number, do not throw or discard it to fall into the hands of bad people.
• Financial statements: It contains your account numbers and (frequently) your SSN are prizes that may lurk in the garbage can unharmed and waiting to be “freed” by the identity thieves.

The bottom line is to shred all important personal information before discarding it. Shred, tear, or otherwise burn those, financial statements, pre-approved credit card applications and credit card receipts. Do not make your house a dumpster diving goldmine; what you discard can come back to stalk and hunt you.

Here are some examples of identity fraud: somebody use you credit card information to buy something online or to withdraw money from your account,  somebody use you personal information such a security name, address, social number to open credit accounts or to get loans in your name, somebody use your information to make fake ids and the list can go on.

The best method to protect is, like I said in the previous posts, to pay careful because all the schemes, scams or any method to steal your information aren’t perfect. Another method is to be very good informed because the fraudsters tend to improve their tactics every day. Before you apply to a “good job”, make a very good deal on a car, buy a good health insurance or do anything that is to good to be true try to digg, to search information about the company, the seller, the person that deals that transaction. Also try to speak with him at the phone or face to face. Be aware that nowadays the persons who scam people are very very convincing and you’ll need just 1 second of uncertainty to lose your money and your identity. I hope reading here will help somebody. Fraud prevention is not a hard thing, but can save you about really hard things in your life.