Protect yourself from identity theft by being careful with your social security number, credit solicitations that come in the mail, junk mail disposal, personal documents and monitoring your credit report. If you think your information has been compromised, take take action to prevent it from being used to open credit cards.
Step 1
Request a free credit report through the free annual credit report website. Request a report from all three reporting bureaus incluing Experian, TransUnion and Equifax. MSNMoney suggests you order one report from one agency every four months so you have a steady stream of free credit data coming in. If you have already requested your report within the past 12 months, you can either contact each bureau by phone and request an additional free copy or you can pay for the report online at the individual websites for each agency. It may be possible to obtain a free copy by phone if you explain that you may be a victim of identity theft.
Step 2
Call the three major credit bureaus and ask for a credit freeze. When the freeze is in place, credit card companies will receive a warning if they receive your information with a request for a new credit card. The application may be denied immediately or the creditor will attempt to contact you using information on your credit file to verify you requested the credit.
Step 3
Protect your personal information by shredding any personal documents that you plan to discard. Use a cross cut, diagonal or other type of shredder that slices the page in multiple ways to prevent pieces from being put back together. Other things to dispose of carefully include junk mail offers, prescription bottles or other items with your information on them. Keep your identification information private.
Step 4
Minimize the amount of personal information that comes to you in the mail or email by opting out of prescreened offers. This can be done by visiting the OptOutPrescreen website.
Tips and Warnings
- Don't carry your social security card or other identifying numbers with you in case you lose your wallet or it is stolen.
Things You'll Need
- Computer access
- Paper shredder
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