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Home » Business And Finance Articles » Steps You Can Take To Protect Your Financial Information And Personal Identity From Fraud

Steps You Can Take To Protect Your Financial Information And Personal Identity From Fraud

Financial fraud and identity fraud are one of the fasted growing forms of fraud. The first line of defense to protecting yourself begins with you. Here are some steps you can take to help you protect and fight against financial and identity fraud.

1. Review and Protect Your Information - The first line of defense in financial fraud is to periodically check your credit report to ensure all your information is accurate. Remember there are three credit agencies (Equifax, TransUnion, Experian) which all operate independently. Make sure you check your credit report from all three because they may each have different information.
2. Destroy Credit Card Mail Offers and Old Financial Documents - If you receive direct or pre-approved solicitations in the mail for new credit cards and do not use them make sure you shred or tear them up before throwing them away. In addition, shred all financial papers including cancelled checks, old bank account statements, or any document with your identity.
3. Watch Out For E-mail or Telephone Fraudsters - Never give your personal or financial information out on the internet or phone unless you initiated the contact. This is especially true with giving out your social security or credit card number. Watch out for e-mails from fraudsters that state they need your account information or credit card number to update your account with your bank or an online company like e-bay. Never give out personal information over e-mail! Many times these e-mails will have links for you to click on that take you to a website that looks authentic. However more times than not, it is a scam to get your personal and financial information.
4. Social Security Number â€" Keep your social security number in a safe place with other financial documents. DO NOT carry your social security card in your wallet and remember to shred your old social security statements. It is also recommended to not store your social security number on your computer as hackers may have access to it. Never print your social security number on your checks, credit card or drivers licenses.
5. Incoming / Outgoing Mail - Pick up incoming mail promptly and do not send outgoing mail in your residential mail box. Make every effort to keep your mail as securely as possible when it leaves your house.
6. Monthly Bills â€" If your monthly bills stop arriving, take action quickly. Notify the company right away. Also, review your monthly statements promptly and if you see charges or items on your bills that you do not recognize get them resolved immediately.
7. Credit Cards / ATMs - Report lost or stolen credit cards and ATM cards immediately. Be sure to carry the 1-800 numbers of your bank and credit card company in your wallet.
8. Age Matters - If you are over the age of 50 you are more likely to be targeted for financial fraud. Therefore, keep this in the back of your mind as you handle your daily tasks and personal information.

Most analysts forecast financial fraud and identity thief to cause financial loss to hundreds of thousands people in the next five years and beyond. While fraudsters are very slick and you can never be 100% safe the steps above can assist in you significantly deterring yourself and family from being a victim.

Copyright (c) 2004, by Jay Fran This article may be freely distributed as long as the copyright, author's information and the below active live link is published with the article.

http://www.motorcycle-financing-guide.com/

And here is another random article you might be interested in...

Should I Invest in Real Estate While Running an Internet Business?

Of course you should. I practice this for quite a while and I never looked back. I think this is the perfect combination. You get the best of both worlds. Did you know that 90% of all millionaires made their fortune with real estate and 10% with the internet or the stock market? Well, this doesn't leave any room for the paycheck workers, doesn't it?

I once read a small phrase that totally changed my life "Trading hours for money doesn't bring you any wealth". This powerful phrase stuck with me ever since. Take a moment and think about this. We all do it by being employed by an employer we trade hours for money. How many hours per week can you trade without completely giving up your life? 60, 70 hours max. This doesn't leave much room for a family life or having some fun, doesn't it?

Well, enough of this depressing stuff. Let's talk about something fun. Did you know you can actually make money while you're sleeping? It is called residual income.

With your internet business you want to achieve residual income through selling membership subscriptions to any form of service that charges monthly dues. Typically you will receive your share of this as monthly installments. You do the work once and you get paid over and over again.

With real estate you achieve the same effect with rental properties. Although your involvement in the process is a little bit bigger, but it is still manageable. You have to collect the rent and making sure it is paid on time. On the other hand you have to pay all the bills like mortgage payments, insurance, taxes and sometimes utility bills. Depending on the type of lease agreement you have with the tenants.

This takes care of the residual income part. As a rule of thumb if your residual income covers your living expenses you're on your way to be successful. Now you can start doing the fun part with real estate. Not that there's anything wrong with being a landlord. I personally don't like this part of investing in real estate.

The fun part for me is to work deals with real estate. It could be buying an old property way below market, fix it up and sell it with a profit. Another method in dealing with real estate is called flipping. In this case I simply control the property through a contract and then assign the contract to another buyer. Of course I will collect a fee for my services. I prefer the second method because the least amount of money and work is involved. Fixing up properties can turn into a time and money consuming project.

The point I want to make is that you need to establish some sort of residual income to cover your basic living expenses in order to expand your business.

Of course you can do all of the things mentioned and still working full time. That's what most people are doing. However you have to decide if the extra income is worth the effort. You will need a lot of time to do both investing in real estate and running an internet business.

Visit my home business website and my real estate website to learn about effective systems to leverage both business models without completely giving up your life.

Copyright 2005 Peter Dobler