Being You: More Financially Secure Than Ever!

Have you ever wanted to be someone else? No, we are not embarking on a teenage existential rant. If you want to, that is your own business. I am referring to identity theft. A rising crime in America, identity theft, especially if left undetected for a long period of time, can wreak havoc on your finances. Often times, it is a long, complicated process to get your identity back.

An easy target for identity thieves is your very own mail.

The key to reversing identity theft is, like so many things in good financial practices, prevention. Thankfully, there are a few steps to prevent identity theft via mail.

First and foremost, be very familiar with your finances, and make sure you are checking your credit report every so often. Look for fraudulent accounts, charges, etc. If you are up to date on your finances, you will know how much money is in what account, and it will be that much easier to spot mysterious money shortages. In short, take the extra time to make sure you are up to date.

Secondly, as far as mail is concerned, never, ever leave sensitive documents in your mailbox to be sent. Take these documents to the post office. If you have to leave mail somewhere overnight, the post office is the best place as well. If there is a drop box with a lock, this is also sufficient, but not one hundred percent secure. If you receive these kinds of sensitive documents, be sure they are sufficiently shredded before disposing of them.

Thirdly, tell marketers to remove your address from their mailing lists. These types of mailings contain just what identity thieves need, and by telling the marketers to stop sending mail to you, you will also cut down on your junk mail levels. On that note, be sure that information-sensitive packages and documents are sent to a place other than your home, and pick them up personally. Treat your information like it is about to be stolen, and take the necessary precautions.

Finally, if your identity has been stolen, file a fraud alert on your account immediately. Keep a close eye on your finances and figure out for certain if your mail and identity have been stolen.

Thankfully, if you follow these steps to prevent mail and identity theft, you will not have to worry about sorting out the mess that identity theft always brings.

Source:
http://www.essortment.com/home/protectfamilys_slke.htm

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Chris Buchheit

Chris Buchheit was born under the hot Floridian sun during some year in the 1980s. There he studied school matters until moving to North Carolina in 1999. Possibly due to the fact that his mom had enough of him being inside all the time, he quickly got involved in community affairs via the Boy Scouts of America, where he learned the values of citizenship, morality, duty to God and country, and that the biggest kids get to boss around the smaller ones. Chris attained the rank of Eagle Scout in 2004, and still values the rank as one of his proudest achievements. Beginning in 2006, Chris began attending the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill, where he quickly learned the value of basketball and poplar trees. Since attending UNC, Chris has been double majoring in Asian Studies, with a concentration in Chinese, and Political Science. When he isn’t slaving over his honors thesis, looking up a bunch of Chinese Characters, volunteering, or mindlessly browsing the same websites over and over, Chris enjoys writing short stories and novels. Much to his roommates’ annoyance, he also spends his free time learning to play the guitar. Above all else, though, Chris values God, his family, and his friends. For the future, Chris plans to apply to Georgetown to further his studies in Political Science, hopefully with a concentration on China. Pending acceptance into Georgetown, Chris would like to study while gaining professional experience in a government job in Washington DC.

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