How to safeguard our personal and financial data?

Identity theft has become one of the most frightening non-violent crimes of the 21st century and has become all too common. According to the Privacy Rights Clearinghouse, 9.3 million Americans fell victim to identity theft in 2005; and while this number has been decreasing slowly since then, identity theft still poses a serious threat.

In response to this problem, here are some tips to keep your personal and financial data safe.

1) Use caution when disclosing
Never give personal information over the telephone and use caution when disclosing checking account numbers, credit card numbers, or other personal financial data at any Web site or on-line service location unless you receive a secured authentication key from your provider.

2) Shred old documents.
One of the ways to protect yourself against potential fraud or identity theft is to eliminate your own paper trail. Never leave receipts at bank machines, bank counters, trash receptacles, or unattended gasoline pumps. Keep track of all your paperwork. When you no longer need it, destroy it.

3) Be vigilant while using the Internet.
It's important to verify the validity of any requests for personal information before you give them out and make sure that you're not storing sensitive data on non-secure websites for example online calendars, to-do lists and organizers.
Also, check the url of the site.

4) Protect your computer's security.
Use as many tools as you can (anti-virus software, spyware, firewalls, and passwords) to guard your computer information from the nefarious.

5) Set Banking Alerts
Setting alerts for your accounts can ensure that you find out about unauthorized access as soon as possible.

6) Don't Reuse Passwords
It's a good practice to use a different password for every account. It can help marginalize the effects of unauthorized access to your accounts. Memorize your social security number and all of your passwords. Do not record them on any cards or on anything in your wallet or purse.

7) Avoid Enclosing Private Information on Public Computers
To play safe,private information should not disclose onto a computer used by the public and log out completely from your accounts, and never choose to save login information on these computers.

Hope that these tips can help you to safeguard your personal and financial data. Print this post