Are You Being Safe With Your Social Security Number

By Identity Guard (Patch Brand Partner)
Are you at risk of having your identity stolen? It may be more common than you think.

In 2014, 7 percent of Americans over the age of 16 had their identities stolen. This means their personal information was used for fraudulent purposes, usually either to open new accounts or access funds from existing credit or debit cards.

Often, your credit card company or bank will notice bizarre activity happening under your name and put a hold on the account until they can contact you. But some people aren't so lucky, and they can end up losing significant amounts of money. Even when you don’t lose any money, you can lose a lot of time on the phone setting things straight. According to a report from the Bureau of Justice Statistics, most of these victims did not know how their identity was stolen. Let that serve a wake up call to all of us that we need to take better care of our personal files and information.

Thankfully, there are steps everyone can take to stave off the risk of identity fraud.

For example:

• Avoid giving out any personal information over the phone or over email unless you’re sure you know who you’re talking to.
• Make sure any computer, phone, or tablet you use has a password to keep out any thieves.
• Carefully guard of any identifying or financial information, including your bank statements, social security number, home address,
• Don’t share sensitive information over unsecured wireless networks.
• Completely wipe or (safely) physically destroy your computer’s hard drive before you dispose of it.
• Use secure and difficult-to-guess passwords to your email and other online accounts, and change them frequently. Do not share your password unless absolutely necessary.
• Check your credit card and bank statements frequently, and alert the institution to any suspicious activity on the accounts.

If someone does steal your identity, don’t panic. Contact the financial institutions you belong to as soon as possible and let them know what happened. The earlier you find out, the easier it should be to regain control of your accounts.