What is the origin of identity theft? The answer is: You!

That's a bold statement - and I'm not saying I blame you for the crime - no, I blame the criminals for that, but I am saying that a lack of awareness coupled with some bad habits contribute to your possibly becoming the next identity theft victim. How could that be you ask?

~You assume it won't happen to you - so you walk around completely unaware to the dangers.

~You toss out receipts, statements and other financial documents without running them through a cross-cut shredder.

~You haven't reviewed a copy of your credit report since the last millenium.

~You are still using that ballpoint ink pen when filling out a check.

~You leave your out-going mail in your easily accessible mailbox at home or in the mail bin at work - and if you do use the drive-up mail drop, you stuff your mail in the overflowing mailbox.

~You receive credit card offers on a daily basis because you haven't opted out yet.

~You donated your cell phone or computer before wiping it clean of all your personal information, figuring someone else will take care of that.

So how can you remove yourself from being the origin of identity theft?

Let's look at the solutions one by one:

Possibly the single most important thing you can do to avoid being the origin of identity theft is to guard your social security number. How can you do that?

~Take your social security card out of your wallet and keep it at home - secured. It is unlikely that anyone will ever actually need to see your card.

~Refrain from giving out your number to everyone who asks for it. Question those who request it. Why do they need it?

~Request that an alternate number be used for identification purposes for such things like your health insurance.

We are all so busy that it is tempting to just skim over the various credit card and bank statements that come our way, but spending a moment to scrutinize these documents is imperative. By doing this you may be alerted to a problem before more serious and costly damage is done. Though you can remove yourself as the possible origin of identity theft, you can't always prevent it so awareness is one of your best protection options - even if it's just protecting yourself from higher losses and damages.

Most people do not realize how easy it is for criminals to obtain their victim's personal data without having to break into their victims' home. When in public, be alert to the activity of 'shoulder surfing' - which is watching you from a nearby location as you punch in your calling card or credit card numbers or your password and pin numbers while using your phone or while at the ATM or other point of sale terminal. Shoulder surfing also includes eavesdropping - listening in on your phone conversation as you make reservations or make purchases while on your phone. Cell phones allow us to do so much from so many places - and criminals know this. So be aware of your surroundings.

Opt-Out Of Receiving Telemarketer Calls:
One way to avoid being labeled as the origin of identity theft is to give the criminals one less avenue to reach you with their latest schemes by opting-out of the telemarketers telephone number registry. Now, in no way am I suggesting that telemarketers are scheming criminals. However, if you know you've opted-out of receiving these types of calls and then you do get one, it could tip you off that something isn't right about the call. For more information about opting-out your landline, visit: DoNotCall.gov.

It currently is against the law for legitimate telemarketers to call your cell phone so there is no need to opt-out your cell number - and all the more reason to become suspicious if you get a "sales" call on your cell phone. Lose the telemarketer calls, gain some peace of mind.

Buy A Cross-Cut Shredder:
Getting a cross-cut shredder is a must in order to avoid being the origin of identity theft. Not the strip-cut kind, a cross-cut shredder. Run all your receipts, bank statements and anything else that contains your name, address and other personal information through it. There are people out there that will dig through your trash - called dumpster diving - looking for any tidbits of information on you. Why just hand it over to them in any easy to read one page format? It's hard to imagine but people have been known to take the time and effort to assemble the strip-cut kind of shredding back together again. It happens.

Sign Up For A Credit Report Monitoring Service:
Perhaps the most proactive way to avoid being the origin of identity theft is monitoring your credit report. You've heard that you should review your credit report annually. Well that's wrong. You should review it monthly. And the way to do that is to sign up for a monitoring service that delivers your report to you on a monthly (or at the very least, quarterly) basis. As you may have read on the Statistics page, most people don't find out about this kind of identity theft until it's too late. The few dollars it costs each month is well worth the peace of mind - not to mention that it more than pays for it self by saving you the extreme hassle and cost of repairing a ruined credit report.

To get you started, here is a reputable company that I use. Whether you go with my favorite or not, just make sure you get the service that provides reports from the three major credit reporting bureaus like Equifax.

IDWatch also monitors your credit report but doesn't provide unlimited reports like Equifax does, but I have found it to be indispensable for keeping tabs on my public and background records and other sensitive areas that are often the origin of identity theft - and that the credit reports don't catch - which is why I use both services.

Do You Know About Check Fraud And Gel Pens?:
There is a fast and easy fix to avoid a good portion of check fraud while avoiding being the origin of identity theft. While you are down at the office supply store getting your cross-cut shredder, pick up a pack of gel pens. I've tested several brands and they all work about the same. Even if the check is soaked in acetone, the gel ink stays on the check making it very difficult to alter (more on this in the next section).

Where Are You Placing Your Outgoing Mail?:
One less way to be the origin of identity theft is to drop your mail off at a secure mailbox. By secure I mean either inside the post office or in a drop box that is not over flowing - one where you can hear the mail drop down in.

As a rule, I always drop my mail inside the post office because I've had my mail lifted right out of the drive up mailbox at the post office - someone just stuck their hand in and grabbed whatever they could - which happened to be some checks I had mailed. They did get caught though - because they altered the checks they stole and tried to cash them the next day. And no, I had not used a gel pen (which is why they were able to alter the checks) but I did have a very observant bank teller that called the police. I learned my lesson on how not to be the origin of identity theft without too much personal loss or damage and now I always use gel pens for writing checks and so should you.

Receive Less Pre-Approved Credit Card Offers:
Another point about you being the origin of identity theft is in the effort you've taken to lessen credit card offers and other mailings. It is a simple and inexpensive matter to either write a short note, make a quick phone call or even go online to opt out of the Direct Marketing Associations mailing lists. Here's the link to the DMA.

If you like all the junk mail you get and want to keep it coming, then at the very least just opt out of the prescreened credit card offers that are sent to you.

Here's the website for that: OptOutPrescreen. Or you can call in your request: 1-888-5OptOut (1-888-567-8688).

These opting-out steps alone will greatly reduce your chance of being an identity theft or credit card fraud victim. Having credit card offers lying around or just tossed in the trash is an open invitation to criminals seeking to buy things (or sell your credit card number) and have you pay for it.

If you do get unwanted credit card offers, be sure to shred them before tossing them out. Tearing them up is not enough - as was discussed in the news report of a man who wanted to see how easy it was to get a credit card from one of these "torn up" offers. The man purposely tore up a credit card offer that came to him in the mail. Then he taped it back up, crossed out his address listed on form, put in his parent's address and mailed it off. Approximately 10 days later, he received his shiny new credit card at his parent's home. He contacted the credit card company to find out how this got through and their response was that their approval system is automated and it just slipped through. Don't let one of yours "just slip through".

Sanitize Before Donating Your Electronics:
Though donating your outdated technology products is a thoughtful thing to do and I'm not discouraging it, just know that it can be another way for you to be the origin of identity theft. To avoid this, you must be certain that you've removed all your personal information from the device before dropping it off at the donation center. Just deleting your contacts is not enough. Call your service provider to find out how to sanitize your phone/PDA model. Or you can visit this site, Wireless Recycling, to see if they have "cleaning" instructions for your type of cell phone. This may seem like a hassle, but nothing compared to having a thief get their hands on your data.

As for removing all sensitive data on your computer, formatting your hard drive will NOT do the trick. There are off-the-shelf software programs that can recover files after a hard drive has been formatted. Fortunately for those who don't own their own degausser (a device that demagnetizes) there is also software that can sanitize a hard drive which removes all data at government strength levels - which will help avoid being the origin of identity theft.

Leave ORIGIN OF IDENTITY THEFT page and go back to the HOME page