{"id":7123,"date":"2008-11-03T09:48:50","date_gmt":"2008-11-03T15:48:50","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/magic1host.com\/blog\/2008\/11\/03\/identity-theft-how-to-protect-your-identity\/"},"modified":"2008-11-03T09:48:50","modified_gmt":"2008-11-03T15:48:50","slug":"identity-theft-how-to-protect-your-identity","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/magic1host.com\/blog\/?p=7123","title":{"rendered":"Identity Theft – How To Protect Your Identity"},"content":{"rendered":"
by Paul Wilcox<\/div>\n

There are plenty of things that you could own. Some may have been bought, others given to you, and still other passed along from generation to generation.<\/p>\n

They may have a monetary value or they could be more sentimental. Things like pictures or other heirlooms are hard to put a price on, but they can be invaluable to people who know their history.<\/p>\n

And what’s the problem with owning things? They can be stolen. Or damaged by fire, flood or earthquake.<\/p>\n

One of the most personal things that can be stolen from you is your identity. Identity theft is becoming more and more of a problem, and the first step in preventing it is to understand what it is.<\/p>\n

What Is Identity Theft?<\/p>\n

In order to be aware of identity theft, provide protection and prosecute those who steal another’s identity, it is important to define identity theft. Identity theft is that action or actions taken by another for the purpose of misrepresenting themselves as that individual in order to commit fraudulent acts. Those fraudulent acts can include the illegal accessing of that person’s financial accounts or committing acts of crime. Those acts of crime could include creating new credit<\/a> cards accounts, obtaining a loan, etc.<\/p>\n

One of the most common impacts of identity theft is financial loss of some sort. Identity theft can affect your finances and credit rating when the thieves are able to access your bank accounts, credit cards and other private information.<\/p>\n

Plus, if it isn’t stopped quickly, this damage can have a serious impact on your good name. Credit reports, employment history, criminal records, etc. are all potential problems. Even though you are innocent, the problems are on your record. It can take years to clear your name.<\/p>\n

How Identity Theft Occurs<\/p>\n

Identity theft usually happens when someone obtains critical pieces of information about you.<\/p>\n

This can include identification numbers, such as your social insurance number and driver’s license number – things that only their owner<\/a> should know. Other potentially dangerous pieces of information are your passwords, account PINs, date of birth or even your mother’s maiden name.<\/p>\n

If these numbers are obtained by an identity thief, they can use them to pose as you to banks, credit companies or other services. This personal information should never be given out glibly.<\/p>\n

If a company has a legitimate need for this information, they normally only ask for it if you have called them. They shouldn’t call you and then ask for it, since you have no way of confirming they are who they say.<\/p>\n

Identify thieves can also obtain this information by going through your trash or stealing your wallet or purse. It’s important to shred all paperwork that contain important information before you throw it out.<\/p>\n

\n
About the Author:<\/div>\n
Are you looking for more tips about how you can prevent identity theft<\/a>? Get more helpful information about how to protect yourself from this and other online security threats at the Online Security Toolkit<\/a> website.<\/div>\n<\/div>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

There are plenty of things that you could own. Some may have been bought, others given to you, and still other passed along from generation to generation.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":151,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[62],"tags":[133],"class_list":["post-7123","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-security","tag-security"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/magic1host.com\/blog\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/7123","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/magic1host.com\/blog\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/magic1host.com\/blog\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/magic1host.com\/blog\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/151"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/magic1host.com\/blog\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=7123"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/magic1host.com\/blog\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/7123\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/magic1host.com\/blog\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=7123"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/magic1host.com\/blog\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=7123"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/magic1host.com\/blog\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=7123"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}