Protecting yourself from the risks of identity theft
Having your identity stolen can be an absolute nightmare and cause problems in all areas of your life. Scammers are also becoming increasingly savvy, meaning it’s easier to steal your identity than ever before.
You could wake up one day, and all your money will no longer be in your account. If some malefactor committed a crime using your identity details, the police could come pounding on your door. Therefore you must keep on top of your presence online to ensure you’re protecting yourself as best you can.
Since we want to offer you protection to help stop the risk of identity theft, we’ve written a list of 5 ways in which you can protect your identity. Therefore saving yourself a lot of time and effort.
Shred, shred, shred.
You must never toss important documents which feature your name, date of birth, address or bank details in the bin. This would mean it would be easy for a criminal to rummage through your rubbish and find everything they need to commit fraud. It may be worth thinking about purchasing your own document shredder. Doing so means your personal information will become illegible, protecting yourself from identity theft.
Jazz up your passwords
It’s tempting when creating a new password that you use the same as on several other sites, but this is very bad practice! Hackers know that people are lazy, so once they get hold of one of your passwords, they will quickly try that password on your other accounts. You can minimize this risk by having a different strong password for all your sites. Therefore stay away from your first pet and mother’s maiden name and use Google Chrome’s password manager as it suggests hard-to-guess passwords and keeps them protected.
Install Protection
According to ‘Norton’, more than half of all their customers have experienced cybercrime. With one in three customers falling victim in the last year alone. This means that no one is safe when it comes to scammers online. Antivirus should always be at the forefront of your mind when using your laptop or computer. Don’t stop there; install a Virtual Private Network or VPN. Your local security software protects your data on your own devices. While the VPN protects your laptop or computer as it travels the internet. A VPN also hides your IP address, preventing websites from identifying your location vis your computer or laptop. Whilst it can be pricey to have antivirus software on your devices, it’s always better than having your identity stolen.
Secure your social media
Everyone enjoys uploading pictures of themselves and their friends but did you know you could be giving vital information away to identity thieves if you’re not too careful. Therefore it’s crucial to secure your social media correctly. It can be as simple as checking your privacy settings occasionally, as sites like to make changes quite often. For an eye-opening experience, download your data from Facebook and other social media sites. Seeing what’s already out there may inspire you to lock down your account more thoroughly.
Secure your documents with one of our safes
Vital documents such as birth certificates, insurance documents, and forms of ID are all better off kept in physical form in one of our secure safes. Our safes can be insured, meaning that if someone were to happen to the contents, you’d have peace of mind that your insurance would cover your losses. As well as that, your important documents would be securely stored within your home, meaning you’d know where they are and that they’d be out of danger from thieves.
If you’d like to know about the options we offer to help protect you and your identity, give us a call or visit our website today!
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