Best Identity Theft Protection Advice In today's world, identity theft is a very serious and very common crime. While even the

best identity theft protection tips cannot supply you with a 100 percent guarantee that

your identity will never be stolen, you do want to do everything possible to keep your

personal identifying information safe from falling into the wrong hands. If somebody gets

hold of your name, birth date, social security number and other details, they could

misuse this information to get products or services that

they don't pay for. Your credit could be damaged as a

result and you can end up facing a huge hassle to try and

fix the issue. It is a far better option to take some basic

steps to making sure your identifying data remains safe.

Keep Your Personal Details Closely Guarded An ounce of prevention is definitely worth a pound of cure

with regards to protecting your identity. If your information

never falls into the wrong hands, the information cannot be misused. So, you must be

careful about who you give your social security number, address and birth date to. Don't

ever give this information to strangers over the phone or via email, and watch out for

efforts by unscrupulous individuals asking for personal details. If somebody calls or

emails you and asks for your info, be sure you know who they really are before you give

it out. You should also strongly consider shredding mail that has personal data on it so

your information isn’t stolen right out of your home garbage can.

Be Careful When (And Where) Your Credit Cards Are Used You are at risk not only of having people open up new

credit cards in your name but you also face the potential

that someone will use your existing credit cards for

unauthorized purposes. Criminals could get your credit

card number from unsecure online websites or by using

special tracking tools in credit card readers in stores and in

restaurants. Criminals could also copy down credit card

data from restaurants and other stores where your card is

used. You have to be careful of where you use your card both in local stores and online.

Make certain that store or restaurant is a reputable one and that the website is a

secured site before giving out your information online.

Take Advantage of the Help Offered by an Identity Theft Protection

Service Although you can be careful with your cards and your identifying info, criminals are

creative and they may be able to get your details anyway. Therefore, one of the best

identity theft protection tools at your disposal is a service that alerts you when certain

triggering events happen. Services such as Identity Guard enable you to find out faster

if somebody is misusing your personal details. This can provide you with the power to

react fast, call your creditors right away and stop the identity theft when it starts instead

of after the criminal has made a mess of your finances. Learn more about how an

identity theft protection service can help you at http://www.identityguard.com