Protect Yourself From Identity Theft

From a USPS and FTC flyer (italics are my own words):

Common Ways ID Theft Happens

1. Dumpster Diving. They rummage through trash looking for bills or other paper with your personal information on it. Buy a shredder and make sure you run anything with your name, address or other personal information through it. Make sure you get a 'cross-cut' shredder, which cuts paper into tiny little pieces preventing somebody from reassembling a document. You can get them at Walmart, Target or just about any office supply store and they're not that expensive.
2. Skimming. They steal credit/debit card numbers by using a special storage device when processing your card. These are usually a result of somebody tampering with a electronic credit / debit / EBT swipe station. It can occur at retail outlets, ATMs - anywhere you use a credit card. Your best protection is to review your statement and credit report online regularly and report any suspicious activity to your card provider immediately.
3. Phishing. They pretend to be financial institutions and send spam or pop-up messages to get you to reveal your personal information. Simple: don't every click on an email to go to a website. Always stop, open a browser yourself and type in the website address manually.
4. Changing Your Address. They divert your billing statements to another location by completing a 'change of address' form. Sign up for electronic statements. This protects you in several ways: you don't have to worry about somebody stealing your mail, changing your address. As a bonus, dumpster divers won't have anything to find in your garbage except trash!
5. "Old-Fashioned" Stealing. They steal wallets and purses; mail, including bank and credit card statements; pre-approved credit offers; and new checks or tax information. They steal personnel records from their employers, or bribe employees who have access. A tough one to prevent. You can opt out of credit offers (more on that in a future post). You can avoid using checks by using a debit card. And you can minimize the number of cards you carry.

One final note: despite all of the media attention on identity theft and hackers stealing sensitive personal information, only two of the five common ID thefts are even remotely technical; the rest have been around for decades.

Remember: you're more likely to have a credit card statement stolen from your trash than you are to have an e-commerce website hacked!