How to Protect Against Identity Theft Online

Online identity theft is a crime that can happen many different ways. 

Learning how and where on the Internet the identity thief can make you his latest victim is the first step in protecting against identity theft online. Remember that not all identity thieves are after your financial reputation.

Regarding the ease of online job applications and resume posting. 

Businesses seek to switch to digital rather than paper files and numerous job applicants interrupting their daily routine. Yet your private information sent via an Internet page is now in their computer database and therefore open to a hacker break-in.

• Give only your phone number, city of residence on a resume. A special email address to funnel your job-hunting correspondence could protect your regular email address from some Internet based fraud schemes. Alert the prospective business why your resume is lacking any other location information with a statement in your cover letter.

• Do not fill out job applications over the Internet that requires input of your social security number. Many applications filled out online you’ll never hear a word in response about the opportunity. Many positions advertised in Career Builder, Monster and Craig list have no job listing that matches the ad. You will not discover this until after you have submitted your complete application.

Suspicion should be aroused if you receive any email demanding personal information. 

No banking or financial institution will ask for personal information or update it in an email. Government offices demand a paper trail and require print copies for anything and don’t contact you in emails. Beware of PayPal spoof emails too. If you aren’t sure what they look like visit the PayPal Security Center.

Do not send any personal information, account numbers or pins and password in emails. 

Not only can your inbox identity be stolen, but also any email in a public email center can be intercepted in transit. The sender and receiver of an intercepted transmission would never now it had paused or been accessed. The only secure email addresses begin with the prefix “https:/”. It goes without say that to protect against online identity theft, you should never email any debit or credit card numbers or other financial account numbers.

Do not share your password to any account online or store it in your computer. 

Don’t write down you passwords and keep them in your house. The best passwords are pure gibberish. Use a mix of small case, capital letters with numbers and symbols if they are allowed. Don’t use words, birth dates or social security number in Internet passwords. Don’t use personal information for password security questions either. Your father’s middle name or mother’s maiden name are just what you want to avoid to protect against identity theft online.

Change your online passwords regularly.  

Be prepared for events like having your email identity is stolen. This is especially important to anyone who with desirable online ID’s. If you cannot get into your email, you need to have a secondary address the security team can contact you through. If you move or change Internet service providers for other reasons, make sure all of your email accounts have currently active secondary contact information.