This goes to show that more and more people are enticed to get their credit cards. The reasons for doing so are based on the fact that credit cards offer extreme cashless shopping convenience. Hence, everybody seems motivated to get at least one credit card. However, the travails of the credit card industry do not end here. This is because the reality that evolves on the credit cards does not just depend on the way people use credit cards but on how they use them and protect themselves.

What people do not realize is that the manner in how they use their credit cards can greatly affect the way they live. For instance, frauds and fraudulent activities are very prevalent in the industry, and the best targets of the culprits are those who use credit cards whenever they are shopping.

People should take note that one of the most prevalent credit card scams in society today is identity theft. Identity theft is when some unscrupulous people try to get some information from you such, as your social security number and other pertinent personal and financial data.

These sets of information are used deceitfully by these people for their benefit. Hence, the poor victim does not realize that his identity was stolen and that his financial future is doomed.

For this reason, it is important to know how to avoid getting into trouble. Here is how:

1. Protect your data and any financial information

Never entertain phone calls that require you to give any personal data or information, even if the caller says he is from the bank that issued your credit card and that the information gathering is just some sort of verification.

If this is the case, try to inform him that you wish to do the transactions personally. Hence, it is important to verify if the caller is, indeed, a representative of the bank.

1. Avoid freebies and offers that involve credit cards.

If you are offered some promotions requiring you to give some personal information, then, it would be better not to entertain the promo at all.

Things like these will only entice you to try it. In the end, it is too late to realize that you have just been a victim of identity theft.

1. Have a regular check up on your credit standing and bills

Most credit cardholders are so lazy to do regular checkups on their status. If you do this, it will be easier for you to detect any probable identity theft case on your part. Credit reports can tell you if there were purchases that you know that you did not make.

While you can’t entirely control whether you will become a victim, there are steps you can take to minimize your risk. The Federal Trade Commission (FTC), the nation’s consumer protection agency, encourages consumers to Deter, Detect and Defend to help cut down on identity theft.

Deter

Deter identity thieves by safeguarding your information:

• Shred financial documents and paperwork with personal information before you discard them.

• Protect your Social Security number. Give it out only if necessary or ask to use another identifier.

• Don’t give out personal information via the phone, mail, or the Internet unless you know who you are dealing with.

Detect

Detect suspicious activity by routinely monitoring your financial accounts and billing statements. Be alert to signs that require immediate attention, such as bills that do not arrive as expected; unexpected credit cards or account statements; denials of credit for no apparent reason; and calls or letters about purchases you did not make.

Defend

If you think your identity has been stolen, here’s what to do:

1. Contact the fraud departments of any one of the three consumer reporting companies (Equifax, Experian, TransUnion) to place a fraud alert on your credit report. The fraud alert tells creditors to contact you before opening any new accounts or making any changes to your existing accounts. You only need to contact one of the three companies to place an alert.
2. Close the accounts that you believe have been tampered with or opened fraudulently.
3. File a report with your local police or the police in the community where the identity theft took place. Get a copy of the report, or at the very least, the number of the report to submit to your creditors and others who may require proof of the crime.
4. File your complaint with the FTC. The FTC maintains a database of identity theft cases used by law enforcement agencies for investigations. Filing a complaint also helps officials learn more about identity theft and the problems victims are having so that they can better assist you.

So, here are ten tips to protect you from becoming a victim of identity theft.

1. Use a disposable email account. Keep your business or personal email account just for business or personal communication. If you are going to be making purchases online, joining newsgroups, or subscribing to mailing lists and ezines use a disposable email account. Online free accounts such as Yahoo, Hotmail, or Gmail, can interface with popular email clients like outlook or outlook express. Use one of them for all of your shopping transactions.
2. Disguise your online identity. If your real name is Joe Bloggs, try to avoid using email accounts with a name like jbloggs@example.com when dealing with people you don’t know and trust. If you were born in 1970, don’t choose jbloggs1970@example.com as your email account.
3. Use different level passwords. Use one password for your personal information, use another for your business accounts, and a third for your disposable email accounts or mailing lists you sign up for. Don’t use sequential passwords like password1 for personal, password2 for business, and password 3 for disposable accounts.
4. Use strong passwords. Don’t use your birthdates, the year you were married, or your children’s birthdates. Avoid choosing passwords that consist entirely of letters or numbers. Also, try to avoid using passwords that are actual words. The best passwords are mnemonic phrases like “my father ate three apples for breakfast.” Take the first letter of each word and convert the number into numbers, and you end up with “mfa3a4b”.
5. Rotate your passwords. Change your passwords every 6 to 12 months. If you suspect your passwords have been compromised change them as a safety precaution.
6. Use only one credit card for all of your online purchases. If any of your other credit cards have online transactions, you know they are fraudulent. If you see offline purchases for your online credit card, you also know they are fraudulent.
7. Use credit cards instead of debit cards. While many debit cards now offer online purchase protection, it’s easier to dispute fraudulent charges than to recover debit card funds that have already been spent.
8. When you make purchases online, make sure your transactions are secure. In the address bar, you should see “https” and not “http.” There should also be a small lock icon in your browser. If this is your first purchase from the company, make sure the issuing company is someone you have heard of like Verisign or Thawte.
9. Check a company’s privacy policy. When you make your first transaction make sure you check the privacy policy, look for logos from consumer groups like Trust-E and the better business bureau. Click the logos to make sure they are authentic.
10. Never open or fill out email requests for you to update your account or credit card settings via email. These are ‘phishing’ scams people use to try and secure your personal information. Many of them are growing increasingly sophisticated and go to great lengths to look exactly like the companies website using their exact logo.

Identity theft can result in you being pursued debts incurred in your name by the thief being blacklisted by credit reference agencies, and even being arrested on criminal charges. By taking a few simple precautions, you can ensure your identity is safe online. The following are seven effective tips for password protection online.

Password Protection Tips

1. Do not use the same password for everything. Many people use one password for everything because they would have trouble remembering numerous passwords and can’t be bothered to write them all down. If you use the same password for everything and a thief gets hold of it, he has access to every online facility you use. If a crook gets hold of your details for any program, one of his first actions will be to check to find out if you have a PayPal account where you use the same password.

2. Do not use any words to be found in the dictionary as passwords. Passwords should be a meaningless mixture of letters, numbers, and (if the login permits) symbols. Thieves use software programs that can identify dictionary words when used as passwords.

3. Do not use obvious things for identity confirmation. Your date of birth, mother’s maiden name, father’s middle name, etc are matters of record that are available to thieves. Choose a more obscure option, such as your favorite color or the name of your first school. If a program gives you no choice and you have to provide your mother’s maiden name, don’t give the real one, make one up (and use a different one for each program requiring this information) but make sure you don’t forget the names you invent.

4. Never click a link in any email asking you to update personal information. Any email asking you to do this will be a “phishing” email from thieves trying to get hold of your details. If a genuine company needs you to confirm anything, it will ask you to log into your account, it will not ask you to click through via a “special” link.

5. Never tell anyone else your password. No legitimate company will ever ask you to give them your password.

6. Use a software program to store your passwords on your PC. The Mozilla Firefox toolbar will save your login passwords for you and enable you to log in to programs with just one mouse click. Roboform will do the same thing. It will also record the URL of sites you log in at and recognize any phishing attempt. Roboform also has a function to generate completely random passwords for any program you use. The “portable” version of Roboform can be plugged into any pc, thereby enabling you to use your passwords without fear of theft by keystroke loggers.

7. Change your passwords regularly, being sure to use brand new passwords, not recycled ones from a month or two ago. This way, the damage will be limited if a thief gets access to a database containing your details.

Identity thieves are everywhere. They are happy to rummage through your garbage in the hope of finding a copy of your bank statement or a discarded utility bill. Compared to that dirty work, stealing your identity via a password you use on the Internet is a pleasant option. It is up to you to make sure that the preferred option is not an easy one for the thieves.

Some of these tips seem to be common sense and might be things that you are already doing. Others might be tips that you have heard already and thought about following, but have not started yet.

Today is a good day to start protecting yourself from identity theft. Here are seven identity theft protection tips to get you started.

1. Protect your social security number. Never give it out on the internet, and don’t have it printed on your checks. If your health care plan uses your social security number as your membership number, ask them to replace it with a different number.

2. Don’t fall for phishing emails. These emails appear to be from legitimate businesses, such as banks, credit card companies, or eBay. They ask you to reply with your credit card information or your social security number to correct the information in your account. If you think it might be legitimate, telephone the institution, and verify it. Don’t reply to the email or click any links in it.

3. Shred any pre-authorized credit card offers you receive in the mail and don’t want to accept. Also, tear up any papers with your personal information that you are going to throw out.

4. Protect your personal information on your home computer. Use passwords with at least eight characters and a combination of letters, numbers, and symbols. Make sure your firewall is enabled and your virus and spyware protection software are up to date.

5. When you are shopping online, take a minute to read the privacy policy on the website before entering your credit card information. If there is no privacy policy posted, shop elsewhere. Only enter your payment information on secure sites with a web address that begins with https and has a padlock symbol in the bottom corner of the browser screen.

6. Check your bank statements and credit card bills as soon as they arrive. If you don’t receive your statements, contact the financial institution immediately. Identity thieves will change the address where the statement is delivered to avoid being caught.

7. Check your credit reports and monitor your credit history. You can get one free credit report each year from each of the three national credit bureaus. You can order a report from a different bureau every four months to monitor your credit.

Use these identity theft protection tips to prevent being the next victim of this crime. Share them with your family and friends to help them stay safe and avoid the turmoil of becoming the next victim of identity theft.