ID Theft

Nothing can wipe you out financially more than ID theft . All some thief has to do is find a document with a minimal amount of information about you on it and bye-bye ID and reputation. This is why people pay money to security companies, especially on the internet, to monitor any would-be-ID-thieves!

Perhaps it is money not so well spent. Now if you want to pay anybody money to guard your identity, you might be paying the criminal who guards the prisoner. Should I be blunt?

The reality is that people are careless with their numbers that matter. They do throw out, without shredding, documents with numbers that may come back to haunt them. There are simple ways to check yourself for ID compromise.

I'll give you my ID theft thoughts...
I think that one should have faith in their banking institutions. They are aware of your spending habits and can spot red flags. It happened to me with a debit card and my bank caught a red flag since there were transactions happening thousands of miles from my home. This will be discussed elsewhere.

Get your free credit report with a twist. Most get all three(Equifax, Trans Union, Experian) reports at once, thus having to pay and getting discouraged to research an ID theft. Solution: Since you are allowed one report a year for free, spread them out. Get one in April, one in August and one in December from a different credit score site. I go to Experian then to Equifax and then to Trans Union.

Since you really want to avoid ID theft at all costs, there are tips here, here, here, here, here, and since you have to be informed to your teeth, here.

The best common sense ID Theft prevention is to Deter, Detect and Defend.

On another note, the Better Business Bureau has named its top scams.