Identity theft has been around for quite a while now and has become a great concern for people all around, whether these include existing victims, concerned individual, and those outright oblivious. Regardless of how people perceive identity theft, identity fraud by itself is a cause of great concern.
Why?
The truth is, a lot of what identity fraud has to do today is related to what we do commonly around the house. Yes, not all aspects of Identity theft protection are in the hands of individuals, but where possible precaution should be considered and implemented accordingly. To start off, a solid understanding of how Identity theft works and how it can be prevented needs to be considered.
Use These to Keep Yourself Safe from Identity Theft
Establish authentication and mix it up
Many people don’t use passwords entirely and consider setting them up as a hassle. Establishing passwords across all your devices of use creates the first barrier in restricting unauthorized access to your devices. When you do agree on establishing a password. Make sure you ‘mix it up’ really well and not be easy to guess, engineer and decipher.
Don’t visit suspicious websites
If a link appears too good to be true, it usually is. These sites attract potential victims with attractive advertising, hosting fake campaigns and surveys. They collect your private information and use it for no good use. Neither are these websites secure, that means any information shared can be severely compromised but also lead to potentially malicious code to run on the browser and infect your PC.
Employ identity verification as a service
Employing ID verification is a smart move to combat identity fraud in multiple instances. Where online IDV SaaS allows detection of fraudulent individuals through fraud facial biometrics and document fraud. A little price to pay for risk-free onboardings in less than a minute.
Frequent credit report checks
This is a neat and necessary practice, especially for people who are in debt or use multiple credit cards. Going through credit reports allows an individual to see whether there have been more applications of credit under their name or any other transaction not knowing to them has been carried out. This proactive self-monitoring helps combat identity fraud early if occurred.
Secure hard-copy documents
All this technology has eluded us from the fact that we do use paper at some point in our lifetimes. Whether these are bank statements, sensitive photocopies of identification documents. The proper disposal is necessary for such paper-based documents. So these do not turn out into wrong hands or your favorite garbage man.
Establishing Weight on Subject
As individuals of a responsible society, identity theft should be looked into seriously. Where identity theft causes disruption in lives, through financial and social trauma. Individuals need to practice vigilance and responsible practices in information sharing and digital presence.
