Identity Theft
Alex Palozola
What is Identity Theft?
Identity theft is when someone uses someone else's personal information (i.e. social security number) to benefit from the person's good credit or make other economic gains.
How Do People Commit this Crime?
People can commit identity theft with just a little bit of your personal information. They can easily get this by stealing your mail, your wallet, or even when you unsuspectingly give it to them.
Protect Yourself
You can prevent you identity from being stolen by shredding all documents with personal information, never giving your personal information out when it seems unnecessary, and by making sure the few places that do have your personal information have is safeguarded.
What To Do When it Happens To You
If or when you become a victim of this crime, the first thing you need to do is contact the three major credit bureaus and have a fraud alert put on your account. The next thing you need to do is to cancel all of your credit cards. Then you need to file a police report so that they know a crime has been committed. Finally make sure all of your information is secured, to prevent it from getting any worse.
Your Identity is Money
Protect your identity like you would a $100 bill. Secure all of your information to prevent yourself from becoming one of the millions of identity theft victims