Smart Security People recognizes that Identity Theft is a growing trend in our nation and around the world. That is why we are pleased to provide you with the top ten most effective methods to protect your identity from unscrupulous characters.

1. Move to the Ozarks! - not really.. The upstanding citizens living in the Ozark Mountains are just as much at risk for identity theft as someone living in New York city. What they have going for them though is that they are “off the grid”. Living in a remote area of the country with little to no access to technological advances certainly makes it harder for someone to have their identity stolen. Statistics actually show that North Dakota is the best place to live and avoid identity theft. If you are curious as to how your state ranks, give this map a whirl.
2. Get Your Free Credit Reports Now! - Seriously.. right now!!  However, please don’t go to freecreditreports.com. The service that they provide is far from free. You need to go to annualcreditreport.com This site is maintained by the FTC (Federal Trade Commission) and it allows you to get a free credit report from each of the three credit bureaus (Experian, Equifax, Trans Union) every 12 months. What you want to do is get your free credit reports but spread them out throughout the year so that you always have a good snapshot of what is going on with your credit file. For example, get the free credit report from Experian in April, Trans Union in August, and Equifax in December.
3. Pay in Cash! - This is a really antiquated approach to protecting your identity and Smart Security People only recommends this tactic if you are truly worried about the security and safety of your identity. Did you know that every time you pay someone with a check you give them everything they need to know to steal your identity? Each paper check you write has your bank routing number, your bank account number, the check number (lets identity thieves know how established your account is), and usually your address (with phone number). That is why Smart Security People recommends that you…#4
4. Use A Credit Card - Did you know that when you use your debit card, you are giving everyone direct access to your checking account? When you use a credit card, you are giving everyone access to your credit account which carries fraud protection and allows you to dispute and not pay for charges that you did not authorize. If someone fraudulently uses your debit card account, you can still dispute the charges with the bank but it can take weeks for them to research your account before replacing your money. Pay with credit card and make one transaction out of your checking each month to pay it off.
5. Never Mail Anything From Your Home - Identity thieves love to go through your mail. They especially like to snag your outgoing mail which may include private information from credit card applications or checks that you are paying your mortgage and utilities with. They drive around neighborhoods and see the little red flags popped up on your mailboxes and think it is Christmas time. To combat this, you should always drop your outgoing mail in one of those blue R2D2 shaped USPS receptacles on the corners that you pass while going to or from work. If your financial institution offers a free bill pay service, you may want to enroll in this. It will keep less of your paper checks from circulating through the mail system.
6. Bring In The Experts - If you find that your schedule is hectic and you have very little to no time to dedicate to the protection of your identity, then you will want to sign up with someone that does have time and can help you. Two top ranked companies that provide this type of service are LifeLock and TrustedID. These companies can keep a close watch on your identity and alert you immediately when someone attempts to apply for credit using your good name.
7. Don’t Go Phishing! - More importantly though, don’t be a target of phishing. By now everyone has already gotten the “Your PayPal Account is under review for suspicious transactions, please log in to confirm the status of your account”.  PayPal is a popular target for phishing but it is not uncommon to get similar phishing emails under another bank name. The emails are coming from people that have set up databases in third world countries and are hoping that you will click on the link in their email and supply them with your user name and password. Fortunately, if you quickly realize that your account has been compromised, you can change that information before they have a chance to sell it out on the identity theft black market.  If you don’t remember anything else about phishing scams or questionable emails, please remember these 2 things. DO NOT CLICK ON ANY OF THE SUPPLIED LINKS IN THE EMAIL & ALWAYS OPEN UP A NEW BROWSER WINDOW AND LOG INTO THE ACCOUNT IN QUESTION USING YOUR OWN BOOKMARKS OR BY TYPING THE WEB ADDRESS.
8. Log out. Log Out. Log Out - Computer labs are a pretty common occurrence now-a-days. You can find them at cyber cafes, public libraries, college campuses, airport terminals, etc… If you ever find yourself using one of these(which we hope you don’t!), please make sure that you log out of any accounts that you were accessing during your session. A lot of web browsers remember your data and unless you hit the LOGOUT button, your account will remain open and accessible just by someone hitting the BACK BUTTON on the web browser.
9. Invest In A Shredder!  - Dumpster Diving has taken on new form. It used to be that people would lurk through the trash of others to try and find something of value. What is the old adage “One man’s trash is another man’s treasure”? That same saying still rings true. However, the dumpster divers of today are looking for a different kind of treasure. They are looking for your personal and private information. Anything you throw away that contains this type of information should be shredded first. Ideally you want a cross-cut shredder for the best impact but any shredder will do. Even just ripping stuff in half or quarters would be better than throwing whole documents away.
10. Be Aware Of Your Financial Activities - Keep track of your bank and credit card statements. You should know when these come to you each month. If for some reason you stop getting these, it is possible that your account has been taken over and diverted to go somewhere else. When you do get your statements, take a few moments to quickly look over the transactions and make sure that everything is as it should be. If you keep your receipts you should be able to do a quick reconciliation to confirm each transaction.

Smart Security People understands that there are more than ten approaches to helping protect your identity. However, we have come up with this list to help jumpstart your path to maintaining your identity as your own. If you have any other suggestions to share with our readers, please feel free to share. The more we know, the better prepared we will all be.