Five Tips for Protecting Yourself From Identity Theft

Felt Stories aims to provide unbiased editorials. However, I wish to disclose that from time to time I may receive free products or other compensation from companies for blogger reviews

Photo courtesy of LifeLock

Growing up with parents who have spent their whole life working the financial business, I have grown-up knowing the importance of protecting myself from identity theft. Although, we can do our best to prevent it from happening, everyone is at risk. Instead of being afraid of identity theft, I have been using these tips to help protect my family's identity.

The first tip that I have to share is the importance of getting credit checks done on a regular basis. It is a small investment to help keep your identity safe. Knowing that your identity has been stolen in the earlier stages is much easier to resolve than learning about it years after it has been happening.

The second tip is not to share personal information on social networks. Avoid putting your birthdate, home address, phone number or any other information that identity thieves can use to steal your identity. Although you might miss out people posting birthday messages on your Facebook wall, you are taking an important step towards keeping yourself protected.

The third tip is to invest in a good quality shredder. Shred everything that might have your personal information on it before tossing it into the trash. Another way to expand on this is to get a lock on your mailbox or have your mail sent to a PO Box. Identity thieves will dig through trash or steal mail from mailboxes where they can easily get your personal information.

The fourth tip is to use strong passwords, and change them once a month. I keep a password journal with all my passwords for every online account. I ensure that all my passwords are at least 12 or more letters and include numbers, letters and symbols.

Finally, get a service like LifeLock for identity theft protection. LifeLock can do all the work in keeping your identity safe with threat detection, internet surveillance, alert systems and more. They have 24/7 live personal customer service and is one of the best services available on the internet.