Protecting Your Identity While You Shop — the practical version

Consumers can take a mix of steps to protect themselves from this type of crime, including shredding papers that contain personal details, applying strong passwords to protect their financial and government site accounts, and removing mail from mailboxes as soon as possible. People should also check their credit reports regularly and watch for strange or new financial accounts that they never opened, scan their bank accounts to check for unfamiliar orders, and look out for any unexpected change of address notices. These are warning signs of identity theft and should be responded to immediately. Those who suspect or discover that they are a victim of identity theft should file a report with law enforcement, place short- and long-term fraud alerts on their credit report, take steps to dispute inaccurate credit report details, and file a report with the Federal Trade Commission.

Before we continue a quick note about shopping online securely... Web traffic is often tracked and personal details can sometimes be stored in cookies. A VPN will encrypt your data and hide your IP address adding an extra layer of protection of your identity. This can be especially beneficial if you are on a public Wi-Fi network, as VPN software can aid in masking your identity and location. There are assorted VPN software brands, but overall VPN software can be pretty low-cost across the board. You can check our latest NordVPN coupons for up to 70% off subscriptions.

Ok let's move on to some resource briefings and links to understanding identity theft, some examples, and what actions to take if you do become a victim of identity theft.

What Is Identity Theft?

• What Are Identity Theft and Identity Fraud? The United States Department of Justice explains the nature of identity-related crimes on their criminal justice education site. The page also covers what victims can do to protect themselves from further damage and what law enforcement is doing to fight this crime.
• What Is Identity Theft? (PDF): Learn about identity theft in a two-page document at the Boston University site. It also talks about detecting the warning signs, defending against theft, and what to do if one is a victim.
• A Serious Crime: Identity Theft: Readers interested in finding out about identity theft can find useful details from TransUnion. They talk about statistics, data breaches, and how people can reduce the odds of becoming victims.
• Scams and Frauds: Identity Theft: Visit the USA.gov site to learn about the crime known as identity theft. This page discusses the data breach at Equifax, assorted forms of identity theft, prevention strategies, and ways to report it.
• The Definition of Identity Theft (PDF): Lakeland College provides readers with a document about what constitutes identity theft. They also explain assorted forms of identity theft, how criminals carry it out, the consequences of being a victim, and ways to respond to an incident.
• What We Investigate: Identity Theft: Identity theft is a powerful tool for criminals who seek anonymity. The FBI explains the nature of this crime and how they are taking action to fight it.
• Public Safety: Identity Theft: Learn about the nature of identity theft on the state of Massachusetts site. It includes details concerning the significance of this crime, methods, prevention techniques, and more.
• Identity Theft: What it Means to You: Key Bank explains the nature of identity theft on the security section of their site. They also discuss measures to protect oneself from identity theft and ways to react if one is a victim.

Common Identity Theft Examples

• The Many Types of Identity Theft: There is more than one kind of identity theft. This article by The Balance lists some examples and explains the nature of these crimes.
• Taxpayer Briefing on Identity Theft: A news article by the Internal Revenue Service explains the nature of identity theft to interested readers. It explains warning signs for detecting identity theft, prevention strategies, and what steps victims can take.
• Metropolitan Police Department: Examples of Identity Theft: The District of Columbia government site provides a list of ways in which criminals carry out identity theft. They include stolen checks, misuse of victims' Social Security numbers, passport fraud, and more.
• Most Common Schemes: This page by the Center for Identity Management and Details Protection talks about different examples of identity theft-related crimes. Dumpster diving, theft of one's mail, social engineering, credit and debit card theft, and scams are some of the examples that they bring up.
• Child Identity Theft: Children can be victims of identity theft along with adults. The University of Miami Health System explains how this happens, ways to detect it, and what can be done to reduce the risk of it happening.
• Online Fraud: Identity thieves use social engineering tactics to steal personal details for the purpose of tax fraud. The University of Delaware issued a bulletin in 2016 to students warning them to take precautions to avoid falling prey to this crime.
• Types of Fraud: The University of California at Berkeley explains several different ways that criminals commit identity theft on this page. They include credit card theft, utility fraud, financial identity theft, and identity theft involving government documents.

What to Do if You Are a Victim

• Mitigate, Recognize, and React to Identity Theft (PDF): People's United Bank provides readers with a document about ways to deal with identity theft. This includes what to do if one is a victim along with ways to reduce the risk of identity theft and ways to catch the warning signs.
• Know Your Rights: Despite one's best efforts at preventing the crime, identity theft can still happen. The Federal Trade Commission offers advice on what victims can do to undo the damage done when someone steals their identity.
• An Identity Theft Victim's Story: Identity theft struck a victim every two minutes in 2013, per statistics. Forbes talks about the statistical facts involving this crime and one victim's story, then relates how people can take steps to reduce the odds of it happening to them.
• ID Theft Victims: It is possible for victims of identity theft to restore their good name. This page by the North Carolina attorney general's office explains ways to recover from identity theft.
• Briefing for Victims of Identity Theft: The Iowa attorney general's office provides step-by-step advice on this page for people who have been hit with identity theft. They also have details about ways to get help from credit reporting agencies and other resources.
• Identity Theft First Aid: Visitors to the state of California's site can find valuable advice on what to do in assorted identity theft scenarios. These include a stolen wallet, debt collection calls on unknown debts, strange charges on financial statements, and data breach notices.
• Basic Steps to Take if You Are a Victim of Identity Theft: People who have been hit with identity theft can get useful details from the Minnesota Office of Justice Programs site on ways to respond.

Identity Theft Prevention

• How Can I Avoid Identity Theft Online?: Indiana University offers a list of useful tips on ways to manage one's online presence while reducing their risk of becoming a victim of identity theft. These include only submitting personal details on a secure site, not posting pictures of oneself online, keeping firewall and anti-virus software up to date, and more.
• Feature: Ways to Avoid Identity Theft: Learn about ways to avoid identity theft by reading this article on the Michigan University site. It also includes steps on what to do if one is a victim.
• Ways to Prevent Identity Theft: Visit the Utah State University Extension site for valuable details about what to do to reduce the risk of becoming a victim of identity theft.
• Best Practices To Avoid Identity Theft: There are a mix of steps that people can take to prevent identity theft from striking. Boise State University provides a long list of examples, along with what to do and who to contact in the event that one's personal details is stolen.
• Why Should You Take Actions To Prevent Identity Theft?: The University of California at Santa Cruz offers readers advice on ways to protect themselves from identity-related crimes. There is also details here on ways to report identity theft and links to related resources.
• Avoiding Identity Theft: Consumer.gov gives readers tips on ways to prevent becoming a victim of identity theft on their site. They also include details about what identity theft is and why it is a major problem for victims.

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