Did you know that per capita Georgia ranks number 2 in the country for identity theft cases? That’s not great news for us Georgians, but it’s also not a reason to despair. There are steps you can take both on and offline to help mitigate the risk and protect yourself from threats.   

What is Identity theft?
As if we don’t have enough to worry about, there are people out there working to capture our personal and financial information. This can look like literally stealing your wallet to get your information or it can come in the form of deceptive phishing scams. People can use your information to open spending accounts, apply for loans, and even get medical care. Both adults and children can be susceptible to this crime.  

Steps to safeguard IRL: 

1. Leave important info at home: Obviously you will most likely need to carry important items like your driver’s license and debit/credit cards, but your social security card, passport, and medical cards should be kept at home and only brought out when you need them. This doesn’t completely minimize risk if your wallet does come into the wrong hands, but it is a good guardrail.  
2. Always verify: Most places do not actually ask for sensitive information over the phone, but if they do, make sure you are certain who they are, why they need the info, and where it will be stored. If someone is asking for a social security number to verify identity, sometimes just the last four digits will suffice.  
3. Keep a watch on your statements: Make sure to keep a close eye on your bank or credit card statements on a regular basis. This will allow you to immediately report any unauthorized spending.  
4. Guard your mail: Some people will take your personal information the old-fashioned way—straight out of your mailbox. Check your mail regularly, and if you are out of town, have a trusted neighbor or friend hold your mail for you. Another step could be having your mail sent to a Post Office Box, and that way your items are under lock and key.  
5. Lock-down your credit: If you really want to ensure no one can apply for credit under your name, you can issue a security freeze on your credit accounts. This has to be done individually across all three major bureaus to be effective, but it essentially means no one-including you-can open an account with credit. If you do want to use your credit, you will have to remove the holds.  

Keeping your ID safe online: 

1. Passwords: We get it. Everything asks for a password these days, and it can be really hard to keep up with them. While it may be tempting to use the same password for all platforms, this is actually a pretty unsafe cyber habit. Strong, unique passwords are harder to guess. To help you remember them, you can use a secure password manager.  
2. Beware of phishing: Phishing emails and texts are more sophisticated than ever. You will think you have an email from someone you know, but it will actually be a bot trying to get your information. Make sure that you verify the email addresses people send you, and do not click on any suspicious links.  
3. Don’t overshare: When you share personal information on social, these are tools the people can use to verify your identity over the phone with creditors. Make sure you keep things available only to trusted people.  
4. Don’t check accounts in public: While it is a good idea to check your credit and debit reports, make sure not to do so on public wi-fi but only on your home, private, and secured wi-fi networks.  

These are some habits you can build to help keep yourself safe from becoming a victim of ID fraud. If you want to know more helpful financial info such as this, join us for our Third Thursday workshops!