Make Sure You Know How to Protect Yourself from Identity Theft

When the government first started issuing social security numbers the purpose was to track your earnings over your life time and pay you retirement benefits. Over the years this number has become much more than that. Your social security number now is recognized as the key to all of your personal information. With this number a thief can open new lines of credit cards, bank accounts, rent apartments and houses, and even get jobs under your assumed identity.

·         Never carry your social security card in your wallet. You rarely need your social security card so keep it locked up at home in a safe place.

·         Don't hesitate to thoroughly question anyone who asks for your social security number. Do the same for your children as many con artists pose as school officials looking to commit child id theft.

·         Shred your mail before disposing, regularly check your credit score, and use extreme caution when making transactions online or over the phone. If it is necessary to divulge your social security number try to do it in person, face to face.

·         Prevent identity theft online by changing passwords regularly. Don't open suspicious emails, and run a virus scan several times a week.

As we might be well aware by now, children and the elderly are the most common targets for crime. Con artists often pose as legitimate businessmen offering fraudulent services. They may call your home and proclaim you've been selected for an award. Their goal is to attempt to have you tell them important information about your identity so that they can either access your bank information, or sell your identification number to criminals who will then pass it along to the next criminal for money. Your social security number can be used many times often for illegal immigration purposes.

Child Id Theft

Criminals who get your children's social security number can get away with crimes such as credit card identitytheft for years before they are discovered. Most parents don't ever check their child's credit score. Children don't use credit, so why check their score? Criminals know this fact, and they also know they can avoid being discovered till the child grows up and goes to take out a loan for college, or start their own credit card, and they are denied. Meanwhile for the past ten years the criminal has opened credit cards using your child's social security number and spent lavishly traveling the world, buying property, and living the good life. It is a cruel, but very effective crime that make credit card theft laws hard to enforce.

New number? Not so fast

Many people assume that the solution is just to ask for a new social security number. This is actually a poor idea. Your old social security number will always be tied to your new one regardless. Getting a new social security number is in many ways like being born again. You are starting from scratch, so a new number will erase your credit history, academic records and professional degrees. This would make it very difficult to get credit, open bank accounts, let alone buy a home or a car.

Explore More to know more about Prevent Identity Theft.

Find out more about social security number identity theft at legal-yogi.com. They have access to legal services in any part of the country and are available 24/7 for free consultation by calling 1-800-397-1755. 

Make sure You Know How to Protect Yourself from Identity Theft

When the government first started issuing social security numbers the purpose was to track your earnings over your life time and pay you retirement benefits. Over the years this number has become much more than that. Your social security number now is recognized as the key to all of your personal information. With this number a thief can open new lines of credit cards, bank accounts, rent apartments and houses, and even get jobs under your assumed identity.

•          Never carry your social security card in your wallet. You rarely need your social security card so keep it locked up at home in a safe place.
•          Don't hesitate to thoroughly question anyone who asks for your social security number. Do the same for your children as many con artists pose as school officials looking to commit child id theft.
•          Shred your mail before disposing, regularly check your credit score, and use extreme caution when making transactions online or over the phone. If it is necessary to divulge your social security number try to do it in person, face to face.
•          Prevent identity theft online by changing passwords regularly. Don't open suspicious emails, and run a virus scan several times a week.

As we might be well aware by now, children and the elderly are the most common targets for crime. Con artists often pose as legitimate businessmen offering fraudulent services. They may call your home and proclaim you've been selected for an award. Their goal is to attempt to have you tell them important information about your identity so that they can either access your bank information, or sell your identification number to criminals who will then pass it along to the next criminal for money. Your social security number can be used many times often for illegal immigration purposes.

Child Id Theft

Criminals who get your children's social security number can get away with crimes such as credit card identitytheft for years before they are discovered. Most parents don't ever check their child's credit score. Children don't use credit, so why check their score? Criminals know this fact, and they also know they can avoid being discovered till the child grows up and goes to take out a loan for college, or start their own credit card, and they are denied. Meanwhile for the past ten years the criminal has opened credit cards using your child's social security number and spent lavishly traveling the world, buying property, and living the good life. It is a cruel, but very effective crime that make credit card theft laws hard to enforce.

New number? Not so fast

Many people assume that the solution is just to ask for a new social security number. This is actually a poor idea. Your old social security number will always be tied to your new one regardless. Getting a new social security number is in many ways like being born again. You are starting from scratch, so a new number will erase your credit history, academic records and professional degrees. This would make it very difficult to get credit, open bank accounts, let alone buy a home or a car.

Find out more about social security number identity theft Click to Read at  www.legal-yogi.com. They have access to legal services in any part of the country and are available 24/7 for free consultation by calling 1-800-397-1755.