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In this article, we add another
five -- making 10 in all -- with a particular focus on identity theft, the
biggest scam of all.
By taking these simple
precautions, you can substantially reduce the risk that you'll lose your money,
your identity, or both, to the villains.
Before we get started, we suggest
you visit last week's most popular articles from our other websites:
2 Easy
Tips for Getting out of Holiday Credit Card Debt: Tips to remedy that holiday
credit card debt you might find yourself in.
4 New
Year's Resolutions to Help Prevent Identity Theft: Make some resolutions about
how to prevent identity theft for you and your family.
Key
Ways to Reduce the Photo Size of Your Images Using iPhoto (For Mac Users): A
quick, easy way to reduce photo size with iPhoto, just for Mac users.
Winter
Safety Tips that Could Save Your Life: Things you need to do to stay safe this
winter, whether the storm of the century hits you or not.
Now, on with our tips list...
Tip #6. Protect your identity
Again,
it may sound obvious, but you'd be amazed at how many people are careless with
information that can be used by criminals to pass themselves off as their
victims. For a start, that means taking special care of documents and other
items you carry around with you -- like credit and health insurance cards. Keep
them out of sight and out of reach. Never leave them in your car, and leave
those you don't need, like your Social Security card, at home. Equally, don't
be too generous with information about yourself on the Internet, especially on
social networks liked Facebook, MySpace, LinkedIn and Twitter. Disclosing info
like your address or phone number, your employer and your educational and
career history, all provide valuable background for ID thieves.
Tip #7. Monitor yourself
In Tip
#3 we mentioned the importance of checking the details of your bank and credit
card statements to provide early warning of identity theft. Well, that's just
the start of the whole process of monitoring the activities of those who keep
records about you. You also should take advantage of your entitlement to get a
free report on your credit rating once a year from each of the three major
credit reporting agencies -- again so you can spot anything unusual. Also check
out your medical and employment records and keep a close eye on your tax
records -- all of these are used by scammers in building up stolen identities and,
sometimes, even assuming the full identity of victims. Sound like too much trouble? Don't have the
time? Then consider enrolling with a company that will monitor your credit
activities and issue an immediate alert if someone tries to pass themselves off
as you…
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