I am a two-time identity theft victim. My ex fiancé was, I guess you could say, co-victim the second time around.

Why, then, should you listen to what I have to say about preventing it? It’s happened to me, twice, right? Right.

It’s happened to me, twice. I’ve recovered from it. Both times.

I, personally, tracked down the scumbag the second time; I traced their steps, I learned more about them than they knew about me. Then I turned that information over to the police.

How did I do this? Simple. I used the same techniques they used. That, right there, is what qualifies me to tell you how to protect yourself.

Before I take you online, let me cover the basics on how to avoid identity theft in the physical world, where I was first victimized.

The single, most important thing you can do to prevent identity theft is to keep your social security card (or equivalent, for non-US readers) and any credit cards you don’t use regularly locked in a safe location. Preferably, this would be a safe deposit box which requires photo ID and a key to access. Failing this, a fireproof safe bolted securely to a concrete floor will do just fine. If you lose a key, be sure to change it.

Shred any credit offers that you don’t intend to accept, as well as any piece of mail or other documents containing any personally identifiable information, unless you intend to keep it and file it in a locked cabinet (secured similarly to the safe mentioned above). Once shredded, divide each item into four piles. You’ll want to have four boxes, labeled 1, 8, 15 and 22, for this purpose. Place one pile in each box and empty each box on the day of the month for which it is numbered. This prevents all but the most dedicated identity thieves from reassembling and using your discarded documents. Yes, credit card companies will accept and process applications that have been shredded, reassembled, filled out, photocopied, wadded up and shipped to them in a jar of kool-aid. It’s a bit extreme, yes; just don’t ask me how I know this. You should follow this procedure, really, for any document you discard that contains anything more than your first name. You might not think there’s anything useful on that overdue notice from the library, but trust me, there is.

Again, if it has your personal information on it, secure it. Locked drawer in a cabinet that can’t simply be slid onto a dolly and wheeled away. Never carry anything on you that you don’t intend to use; my first incident was the result of armed robbery and the sale of my identification, including my social security card, which I had on me because I had just started a new job and my employer required a copy.

These are basic guidelines for protecting your identity in the real world. Beyond that, use common sense and don’t go around giving out your personal information to everyone you meet, even if you think they need it. You’ll eventually end up giving it to someone who does need it to steal your identity!

Protecting yourself from online identity theft, however, is a bit more complicated than protecting yourself in the real world. The most important step you can follow is very simple: NEVER TELL ANYONE YOUR PASSWORD, TO ANYTHING, EVER; NEVER WRITE YOUR PASSWORDS DOWN AND NEVER USE THE SAME PASSWORD FOR MORE THAN ONE ACCOUNT.

Nobody but you ever has a legitimate need to know your passwords. Ever. Period. I don’t care who they say they are, if they’re asking for your password, they’re lying. Service providers can access your account without a password, it’s their system and they have that access. I’ll repeat this one more time because it is the most important step you can take to protect yourself online: NEVER TELL ANYONE YOUR PASSWORD, TO ANYTHING, EVER; NEVER WRITE YOUR PASSWORDS DOWN AND NEVER USE THE SAME PASSWORD FOR MORE THAN ONE ACCOUNT.

There’s a ton more information that I’d love to dole out right now, but Sharon insists that I keep my articles short and sweet (shorter than this, even), so I’ve written more here.

This entry was posted on Tuesday, August 19th, 2008 at 11:31 pm and is filed under Off the Wall, Products and People, Taking Care of Business. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can leave a response, or trackback from your own site.