Earlier this week, I wrote a brief account of my experience with identity theft and gave several tips to prevent yourself from becoming a victim. As promised, I’m back to provide more tips to help you protect yourself from identity theft on the internet.

I’ve already explained the importance of keeping physical documents behind lock and key in a secured cabinet. I’ve covered the importance if not giving out or writing down your passwords, ever. These are the most important steps you can take to protect yourself from identity theft, in general; however, they’re really only the tip of the iceberg.

Also important is choosing strong passwords. A strong password will contain a random mix of uppercase letters, lowercase letters and numbers, as well as punctuation marks when allowed and will be, at the very least, eight characters long. A longer password is better, in cases where it is allowed.

To be truly secure online, just as in the physical world, you must be willing to forgo some convenience. Security questions are a great idea, in theory, as they allow a method of verifying who you are in order to allow you to reset your password should you every forget it. The problem is that they are often answered by easily researched information, which anyone who knows you probably already knows and anyone who doesn’t can find out with minimal effort. Even if the password reset option relies on email to complete the task, try to bear in mind that your email password can likely be reset with the use of security questions, as well.

Don’t worry, there’s a simple solution. Pick someone you know and answer those security questions as though you were that person; never tell anyone who you picked and try not to pick someone obvious such as a family member, best friend or current or former lover. This way, no matter how well someone knows you, they won’t be able to have your passwords reset to gain access to your online accounts.

So far, everything I’ve covered has been about keeping your data locked up and secured. There’s much more to it than this, which I would love to cover right now. Alas, I hear about it in meetings if I make these articles too long. I’ll fill you in on the rest of the details shortly; in the meantime, start putting what you’ve learned so far to good use!

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.

Did you know S.C. Johnson has an amazing newsletter? Yep, that’s right, S.C. Johnson as in the makers of Pledge, Ziploc, Shout, Saran, Glade, Windex, Off!, and Raid. The name of the monthly newsletter is the “Clean Home Journal” and is full of great tips including cleaning (of course), recipes, nutrition, interior decorating, and more. They also include printable coupons and links to free samples.

Check out this article on Spring Cleaning, Room by Room which includes 7 FREE printable checklists!

Soular Sisters in Hudson is having a Spring open house on Friday March 7th and Saturday March 8th from 9:00AM to 10:00PM  The boutique offers an ever changing inventory of trendy accessories and unique fashion at affordable prices. The website is fun too. Check it out.

Want to sell or find a home without getting out of your pajamas? Check out some of these user friendly real estate websites:
   www.realtor.com - browse through listings
   www.zillow.com - estimate your home’s value
   www.Trulia.com - chat with locals to get the scoop on a potential neighborhood
   www.FSBO.com - For Sale By Owner will help you do it yourself

Staging a rarely used room sounds easy, right?  Not so when it comes to dining rooms.  This room presents beauty, but is plagued with excess baggage.  Like too many chairs around the table and extra ones in the corners, lots of storage in the china cabinet, extra furniture, too many plants, toys, etc. 

When selling a home there should be only four chairs at the dining table.  Move all extras to the basement.  If the china cabinet is a catch-all for collections, art the kids made, stacks of dishes and one glass after another, you need to pack all these items and then “merchandise” your shelves with only a few large items.  Usually items that are solid as opposed to glass.  Glass pitchers and goblets in front of a mirrored backgroud, sitting on a glass shelf, and displayed behind the glass door lose interest.  You can display a dinner plate in the groove provided for this purpose in each “quandrant” of the cabinet and accent with goblets or tea cups and saucers in front.

Removing all extra furniture (tea carts, small chests, etc.), toys and storage, minimizing wall hangings, removing any tablecloth, placing a nice bowl of fruit or vase of flowers and setting the table for entertaining will entice buyers to imagine a calm, romantic dinner.  Your staged dining room with be briming with beauty - without the excess baggage.

Another Arhaus warehouse is going to be shutting it’s doors for good. Sadly, this isn’t the first one of the Cleveland-based, family-owned company’s warehouses to close down. The good thing is everything will be marked down 50%-70% which makes it a stager’s dream! This is going to be some great shopping and my inventory will be stocked up with some fabulous high-end items that normally are too pricey for the budget. FYI If you are in the Cleveland area - it is the Brookpark Clearance Center and the final day is July 31st.

One of the questions that came up at the recent CEU presentation was, “what are the black streaks on my roof, and how do I get them off?”  The answer: algae. We ran across this answer in the local newspaper and found these facts interesting:

• once algae is in an area, it is carried from one roof to another and can infest the whole neighborhood
• there are no proven damaging effects of algae
• repeated cleaning/powerwashing can damage the roof and the color or life of the materials (but it will get the home presentation ready to sell)
• there is a prevention!!! a product can be installed between shingles on a new roof to protect against algae, stain, and discoloration