Credit Card Theft and Fraud Protection – Another reason to enroll with LifeLock

Your credit can go from a decent score to very bad in a matter of a few days. The worst part of it is that you probably won’t even know about it until you get a statement or try and use your credit card and it is not accepted. This crime is on the rise and the criminals are getting better and better at figuring out how to access people’s information.

There are several ways to keep track of your credit card and lessen the chance that you will be the next victim. One way is to never give your information out over the telephone. When someone calls and claims to be a representative of your bank or the IRS or a credit card company and asks for personal information do not give it. These scams are one of the very popular ways unscrupulous people get your information to use for fraudulently obtaining merchandise in your name. Sometimes it takes years to get these items removed from your credit making it hard to get the credit you need for a home, car, or anything else.

Another quite simple way of getting personal information which people seldom think about is by picking up your donated or trashed computers. Most people don’t realize when they delete their daily activities and finances these items stay on your computer’s hard drive. Identity theft victims, especially those that pay their bills online, have social security numbers, credit card numbers, and loads of personal information on their computers. If you want to donate your computer to a worthy charity, either remove the hard drive or get the hard drive permanently wiped clean.

Monitoring your credit is an excellent way of keeping track of charges and items that appear on your credit report. Many of the tracking companies have services that will alert you to transactions reported on your credit cards thus enabling you to know if something is charged fraudulently. For a nominal fee you can monitor your credit monthly instead of waiting for statements or an overdrawn card to let you know something is wrong.

Beware of emails from legitimate looking companies that ask you to update your information. These emails can have the logo of the company and look perfect, however once you enter your personal information, it goes to a completely different site and the identity thieves have access to your accounts. A bank will never email you and ask for you to enter your account number or pin number. If in doubt call your bank and ask to speak with someone in the fraud department.

The bottom line is protect your identity. It is who you are, and there are plenty of people who like your identity better than theirs when it comes to purchasing power and good credit. So be careful and get LifeLock Identity theft protection.