Are You Helping Steal Your Info?

By Author: Mervin Horton
Total Articles: 18
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Last year close to 8 million people in the U.S. were the victims of identity theft. Believe it or not this is good news considering in 2009 the number topped the eleven million mark. That is a 28 % drop.

A lot of this is a result of many banks in conjunction with federal and local government agencies taking aggressive steps to track and apprehend identity thieves. In addition there is a concerted effort across the board to inform consumers as to the potential risks of identity fraud and precisely what measures can be put into place in order to protect themselves. In many instances folks are doing just that no matter if it's buying some sort of fraud identity theft insurance coverage or doing a much better job of protecting their personal information.

There is however an area in which individuals are willingly reckless in sharing their private data. It is not that they have an overwhelming desire to have their identity stolen. It's just the nature as well as the arena they are communicating ...
... in.

Social networking has skyrocketed with countless online users logging in daily to talk about whatever is on the agenda. At the same time they are being quite careless with regards to sharing their personal information. Something as simple as telling everyone your complete date of birth or providing your phone number serves as an introduction to identity thieves.

In fact scammers can also do a little bit of cloning by getting a hold of your photo and using that to create completely new accounts.

Unfortunately this recklessness also extends to our mobile phones. It seems so long ago but there was a time when a phone was just a phone. But now thank to all the innovations it is now so much more. And with that it has made many people vulnerable to identity theft.

Many people have no safety mechanism on their phone while others store all kinds of personal information without any password safeguard to deter somebody who may come across it.

If you are planning to be on line doing some socializing then be very cognizant of your privacy settings and depending on the circumstances be ready to change them when necessary. Also keep in mind that you can do more than your share of socializing without giving out any sensitive information. Be leery of anybody that you have put on your contact list that is a little too anxious in trying to obtain this information.

As to the cell, be sure to lock it up by giving it some sort of passcode protection. You may regard this very annoying that you have to log on every time you don't use it for an extended period but if you intend to save any kind of personal data on it then it's an inconvenience that is worth it.

To find out more go to id fraud information