Financial identity theft can be very serious. It is also becoming more and more prevalent these days. In this article, we will discuss how financial identity theft occurs and what you can do to protect yourself.

In many cases, financial identity theft begins with the theft of one’s social security number. With your social security number and a few other pieces of information about you, the thief can set up an entire second credit line. They can apply for credit cards and even get a mortgage. It is so important that you keep this information private. Do not give your social security number out over the phone. Only provide it to entities that truly have a right and a legitimate reason to know, such as your tax professional or your bank.

There are several things you can do to help protect yourself from identity theft, however most of the things you can do require some effort on your part. If you are determined to watch your credit then there are things you can do. Your first step should be purchasing a shredder for your home.

The shredder should become your best friend. Anything that comes into your home that has an account number, birthday, or even social security number that you do not keep and file away in a locked storage box should be shredded. Once the papers are shredded, you can choose to either throw them away as normal, or burn the papers to ensure that nobody can get your personal information from them. While this helps, there are still other ways you can become the victim of identity theft.

Laptops represent a nearly impossible temptation for thieves, in the workplace, at the coffee shop, or on campus. They’re small, portable, usually of high value, and next to impossible to trace.

Current estimates say that a laptop is stolen about once every minute in this country, or half a million of them per year, and 97% of them are never recovered. Even more frustrating than losing the hardware is losing any data that’s on them – particularly if it’s a corporate laptop, where the files may be more valuable than the hardware!