Something nobody ever wants to go through is having their identity stolen. You can end up with your credit rating ruined and an empty bank account if you don’t stop it quickly. This is an ever growing problem so make sure you are doing everything you can to make sure the next victim isn’t you. If you follow the simple advice below you are making the job of the identity thief a little bit more difficult.

If you aren’t doing so already make sure you take care with all you paperwork. Never throw anything out without first shredding it. Anything with any of your details on is a potential risk. Make sure you take care of your personal details on the internet too. Any time you buy anything make sure it is a secure site and do a few checks to see if the site looks legitimate. Try and find out if they have a telephone number and an address. Another potential threat is on the phone, be careful what details you give to someone. If they rang you then they should be the ones confirming any details not you.

Beware of imposters, either on the phone or on the internet. If you receive a call or email asking for you to confirm details make sure you don’t give them anything. No company will ever ask you for passwords or PIN numbers over the phone or my email. Any email requesting this type of information can go straight in the bin. You should also avoid writing down your PIN numbers and passwords as they can easily be lost and end up in the wrong hands. Don’t let this mean that you pick simple easy to guess passwords though.

Many credit cards offer protection against identity theft so make sure you take advantage of it. Credit cards are very often the source of problems so take care with yours. If you ever see anything suspicious when you use your cards be very careful. It is possible to clone cards by copying the details as you pay for something. Most card scams have a camera pointing at the device to catch your PIN so make sure you cover the keypad with your hand when you enter it.