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When it comes to fighting disease you've probably heard that prevention automobile donation better than a cure. This is true not only for staying healthy physically but also for protecting your identity. Identity theft is on 1960 Topps baseball cards rise and in this article I will discuss 7 ways that you can prevent identity theft Donkey Kong happening to you.

1. Keep your mailbox locked. A popular way for identity thieves to gain access to your personal information is to steal your mail. Every day in your mail box there are utility bills, credit card bills that contain your name, account number, credit limits etc. There are mortgage bills and phone bills, the list goes on and all of these bills have personal information better kept private.

2. Never throw the types of papers listed in #1 above in the trash. Criminals often go "dumpster diving" or digging through trash to find that type of information. If you're cleaning out the filing cabinet use a paper shredder or some other method to destroy the documents so they don't fall into the wrong hands.

3. Call the credit bureaus and sign up for free alerts. These credit alerts require that a phone call be made to you for verification anytime some type of credit activity is happening in your name. If you're applying for a James Bond game or a credit card, opening a bank account etc. You'll be called to make sure it's really you that is doing these things.

4. Protect your credit card number when you're out shopping. It seems like every cell phone today has a camera built into it. It's so easy for someone to snap a picture of your card giving them your name, card number, and expiration date. When you take out your credit card to make a purchase try to make sure it's not easily visible to everyone else in line behind you.

5. Never give out personal information to someone who calls you up on the telephone. If you call someone, like your credit card Presto Magix for example, you may be required to give an account number to verify that you are in fact YOU. But if you receive a phone call from someone claiming to be from your credit card company and they want to "verify some information" and they start asking you for your account number and expiration date DO NOT give up the information. They are a con artist trying to scam you. Instead, call your credit card companies toll free number to talk to a representative and if there is any issue with your account that needs to be resolved they will help you.

6. Keep your anti-virus protection on your computer up to date. With all of the viruses and trojans on the internet, the more computer literate crooks can obtain information from your computer. A good and current anti-virus program can make that a lot more difficult.

7. Beware of phishing schemes. Phishing is when you receive an email from a business or organization that you deal with online like a bank for example. Only the email is not really from the bank it's from some con artist that sends you an email asking you to click a link to update your account information (or something similar). The link takes you to a clone of a legitimate page. It looks very much like the actual page but when you type in your personal information, that information is captured by the con artist to use in any number of devious ways.

A legitimate company or organization will never ask you to click a link in an email that takes you to a page for you to type in personal information. If you ever need to update information on a website you should always type in the URL yourself and login to your account with your username and password. NEVER click a link in an email that takes you to a page asking for sensitive information. JUST DON'T DO IT.

I hope these tips help to keep you and your personal information safe. Always use your common sense and best judgment and don't fall victim to these predators.

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