Protect yourself against identity theft
GetRichSlowly has a post with some great tips for deterring ID thieves, defending yourself and detecting that a crime has taken place. He also took the time to convert some helpful FTC documents into PDF format (the FTC encourages this) so you can download a copy for yourself.
In addition to his extensive list of tips, I would suggest:
- Get a shredder that shreds credit cards. If you can’t afford one, cut your expired cards into small pieces with scissors and don’t throw all the pieces into the same garbage bag. Ideally, put a few chunks of it in with some food-related or other messy garbage, a few chunks in with the next bag of messy garbage, etc. I would put it in three different bags because I have seen the dumpster divers sitting there combing through bag after bag of stuff.
- Watch employees. Waiters and cashiers have access to your credit card. If they take the card out of your site or you don’t pay attention, they can write down all the numbers they need to make internet purchases very quickly. There are even devices some sophisticated thieves use that allow them to scan your card and replicate the magnetic strip (or something – I’m not sure how this works). It might be worth it to pay cash at restaurants instead of using your card, since that’s where they always take the card out of your site.
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