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Identity theft is a common problem. Especially with today’s high technology, there are many ways thieves can steal your identity and your money. Following these steps will help protect you from being a victim of identity theft.
1. Shred all documents, bills, receipts, mail, ATM receipts and credit card offers. Shred these documents both vertically and horizontally. Don’t make it easy for anyone rummaging through your garbage or recycle bin to put the pieces together to gather your personal information.
2. Limit financial transactions over the internet. If you must bank and shop online, choose a password that includes both numbers and letters, caps and lower case. Change your passwords often and don’t use the same password for all accounts. If you must write them down, be sure to keep them in a safe place. Always log out of your online accounts.
Be aware of phishing emails. Companies and banks will not contact you via email. If on the odd occasion they do, they will address you by your name, not “Dear customer”. And you haven’t won a lottery in which you never entered.
If you are getting a new computer, remove your hard drive before you send the old one out to pasture. Nothing is ever completely erased. If you want to dispose of your hard drive, smash it with a hammer.
3. When paying with a credit card, make sure your card is visible to you at all times. It’s easy to give the waiter or waitress a credit card to pay for your meal and have them return to your table with your bill to sign, but safer to go to the register with the employee.
When using an ATM bank machine, cover the keypad with your hand when entering your PIN number even if there is no one around. There are cameras everywhere.
Image by Don Hankins via Flickr
4. Don’t carry your social insurance card with you. Memorize the number and lock it in a safe. We have a small fire-safe for documents such as wills, birth certificates, social insurance cards, and passports.
5. Read your bank and credit card statements. Question anything you don’t recognize. Some companies charge by a corporate name rather than their retail name. There is no harm in calling and questioning a company you don’t recognize. In some cases, like when charging over the internet, the company will inform you under what name you will find that charge on your credit card. The first time I signed my children up for soccer online, I figured the charge would come under the league name. When I got my credit card I saw a name I did not recognize. I looked up the phone number and called the company listed on the statement. As soon as they answered the phone I realized who the company was. Better safe than sorry. Credit card statements sometimes show shortened forms of the company names. Keep all transaction receipts and match them up to your credit card statement. If you order online, print out your receipt.
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6. Do not post personal information like address and phone number to your “friends” on the internet. If they can see it, anyone can.
7. Request and review your credit report every year. This way you will be able to see if unknown accounts have been opened in your name.
8. If you are a home owner, having a lien on your house could be beneficial. A lien is a loan using your house as collateral. Though no one wants to be in debt, having a lien (such as a line of credit) will prevent anyone from borrowing money in your name.
9. Do not give ANY information to so-called telemarketers or credit card companies who call you. Ask them for their phone number and call them back to see if they are legitimate or a scammer calling from his home or cell phone. And don’t be fooled by a female voice; thieves are women too. Having call display on your phone can help. I don’t answer calls where there is no company name accompanying an unknown phone number displayed.
The same goes for people who come to your door. One day recently a man came to my door claiming to be from an energy company, that he would check my hot water heater for free and if there were problems he would book a maintenance appointment for a later date. I was not familiar with the name of the company he named which was also displayed on his picture ID. I said, “I don’t know you and I’m not letting you into my house.” (Letting a stranger into your house could also be dangerous to your physical safety.) After I closed the door I thought, my hot water heater is a rental from my gas company. If anyone was going to service my hot water heater it would be my gas company and they would phone first to set an appointment. Gas companies rarely call you randomly. It’s hard enough getting service from them when you NEED it. I should have noted the name of the company the man claimed to be working for and reported it.
10. Keep your checkbook in a safe place, especially cancelled checks where your signature can be copied. My name on my checks does not appear in its complete form, but I sign my checks using my full name. That is the signature the bank has on file, but someone stealing my blank checks would not know that. I never sign anything other than legal documents with this signature. Anything else I just use my first initial and last name – like school permission forms.
If you follow these preventative steps you will be protecting yourself from identity theft.
译文:
十种防止身份失窃的方法
图片由维基百科提供
身份盗窃时一个很常见的问题。尤其是在高科技的当今社会，小偷们可以通过多种方法盗窃你的身份和财产。以下几种方法可以让你防止成为身份失窃的受害者。
1.处理掉所有的文件，票据，收据，自动取款机收据和信用卡报价。把这些文件处理的一干二净。不要让任何人有机会从你的垃圾筐和回收站里面得到这些所有的碎片从而拼凑起来你的个人信息。
2.尽量减少在网上的财务交易。如果你必须在网上汇钱或购物的话，要选一个既包含字母又包含数字的密码，大小写都可以有。经常更换密码，不要把所有的账户都设置成一个密码。如果你一定要记录下密码的话，你要确保把他们放在了安全的地方。经常要注销网上的账户。
小心网上欺诈的邮件。公司和银行不会通过邮件的方式联系你。如果在非常紧急的情况下他们这样做了，他们一定会在包裹的外面写上你的名字，而不是“亲爱的顾客”。天上不会把馅饼掉在你身上尤其是和你无关的。
如果你要买一个新的电脑，在你把它扔到垃圾厂之前把你的电脑硬盘移除。没有什么东西可以完全清除。如果你想完全处理掉你的硬盘，就把它粉碎。
3.当用信用卡付款时，确保你的信用卡没有离开你的视线。很多人都会把信用卡交给服务员，他们回去付账，然后把帐单拿来给你签字，但是如果你和服务员一起去付账的话会更安全些。
当你在用银行自动取款机的时候，当你输入密码的时候即使周围没有人也在用手遮住键盘。不论哪儿都不是最安全的。
图像由Don汉金斯拍摄
不要随身携带你的社保卡。记住卡号并把它放在安全的地方。我们要对一些文件特别的注意。像遗嘱，出生证明，社保卡，还有护照之类的。
5.认真阅读你的银行卡报表。对你不清楚的任何事提出疑问。有一些公司是用法人名称收费而不是用零售名称。向那些公司打个电话提出你的疑问并不是什么坏事。在一些情况下，当你在网上付款的时候，那些公司就会通知你在你的信用卡桑会找到他们公司的名字。我第一次在网上给我儿子买了一个足球,我觉得公司的名字会在收费金额的下面。当我看我的信用卡上时，我发现了一个我不熟悉的名字。我看了一下报表上的电话号码然后打了个电话给那个公司。他们一接通电话我就知道是哪家公司了。小心不犯大错。信用卡上的报表有时候是用公司的简称。要保持你每次账上的交易和卡上的报表一致。如果你在网上订货的话就打出你的收据。
图像由维基百科提供
6.不要把你的地址电话号码等个人信息告诉你的网友。如果他们知道了，那么所有人都有可能知道。
7.每年都要要求审查您的信用报告。这样你就可以知道是否有开在你名下的但不是不的账目。
8.如果你是户主，留有你房屋的留置权对你是很有益的。留置权就是你房子贷款的一个校对。虽然没有人想欠债，有留置权（像是信用贷款的最高限额）可以防止任何人在你的名下借钱。
9.不要给那些打电话给你的所谓的电话推销员和信用卡公司你的任何信息。问一下他们的电话号码然后打回去，看看是不是合法的公司，或者是一个从私人的小房间里打来电话的一个骗局。不要被电话那头的女声所欺骗：女人也有可能是小偷。在你电话的显示会很有帮助。我不会接那些我电话上不显示公司名字的未知电话。
到你家推销的那些人也同样不能相信。最近有个人来我家说他是一个能源公司的，然后说他会给我免费检查一下我的热水器如果有什么问题的话他会预定一个来维修的时间。我不熟悉那个打印在他名片上他说的那个公司。我说："我不认识你，我不会让你进来的。”（让一个陌生人进你家对你的人身安全也是有危险的。）我关上门后想了一下，我的热水器是从我的煤气公司那租的。如果有人来检修我的热水器那也应该是我的煤气公司，并且他们会事先打电话来预约时间。煤气公司不会随便的打电话来。当你的确需要的时候让他们来检修也是比较困难的。我应该注意一下那个人说的他工作的那个公司并且上报。
10.把你的支票簿放在安全的地方，特别是你已经签字的那些被盖销的支票。在我的支票上从来不会出现我的全名，但是我在签支票的时候是用全名。这个签名银行会存档，但是偷了未计入金额的支票时就不会知道。除了签署法律文件外我不会用这个签名签署任何文件。一些其他的文件我只用首字母和姓签署——类似于学校允许的那种形式。
如果你用这样预防性的措施就会防止身份失窃。
