Tips on How to Prevent Identity Theft

29 Mar Tips on How to Prevent Identity Theft

Take these preventative measures to protect your personal information.

In today’s society, criminals have found ways to become smarter and their crimes are much more difficult to detect. While it’s not always spoken about, identity theft continues to be a problem across the nation. Unfortunately, the costs of recovering this information rises as people take a back seat on protecting their identity. Luckily, it doesn’t have to be time consuming or expensive to prevent identity theft. Check out these tips!

Monitor your credit report – This is probably the number one most important thing that you can do to protect yourself against identity theft online or otherwise. Keeping track of what is happening with bank accounts, savings accounts, and credit cards will let you detect when or if your accounts have been tampered with.

Shred documents with sensitive details that you don’t need – This includes bills, bank statements, and anything with account details included. Ideally, buy a shredding machine to do this efficiently. Better yet, opt for paperless statements and notices.

Protect your account numbers and passwords – Don’t carry these around with you in your wallet or bag. This may seem obvious, but it’s surprising what damage a scribble on a post-it note can do. Take the time to learn your passwords and PINs so that you don’t need to rely on a note.

Use anti-virus software – Protecting your computer has always been important, but today it’s even more essential as identity thieves and hackers can gang up and infest your computer with viruses that access your personal information.

Protecting your identity can help to safeguard your finances. Insurance can protect your finances, too. At Dougherty Insurance, we represent multiple carriers and are able to explore all of the best options to suit your needs. We want to make sure that you have the coverage you need – it’s our job to help you! Contact us today for unparalleled insurance in Illinois, Wisconsin, and Indiana.