Protect Your Identity Week: More identity theft myths

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October 21st, 2009 - Posted by Robert Siciliano

Robert Siciliano is a NextAdvisor.com Expert Guest Blogger

The National Foundation for Credit Counselors, which sponsors Protect Your Identity Week, has compiled a number of identity theft myths. To support their efforts, the Santa Fe Group Vendor Council Awareness and Education Subcommittee has helped to clarify some common misinformation with regards to this increasingly common crime. We've already discussed a few of these myths, and will continue to do so throughout this week.

Myth #5: Checking your credit report periodically or using a credit monitoring service is all you need to do to protect yourself from identity theft.

There are many useful and effective credit monitoring services available. However, no monitoring service is 100% effective, and many do little to protect your identity. If you want to be vigilant about identity theft, you should check your credit report periodically, but you should also keep accurate financial records, review your bank and credit card statements frequently for unauthorized charges, and follow the FTC's tips for minimizing your risk.

You can obtain one free credit report per year from each of the three credit bureaus from AnnualCreditReport.com. Many consumer groups suggest that you stagger your free reports throughout the year, rather than ordering all three at once.

The FTC offers facts for consumers regarding identity theft protection services, which take additional steps beyond the level of protection offered by credit monitoring services.

The FDIC offers tips for safe Internet banking.

Myth #6: My personal contact information (mailing address, telephone number, email address, etc.) is not valuable to an identity thief.

Any information that could be used by a thief to impersonate you should be protected. For example, many people use their email address as a user ID for online accounts. Consider making your information available on a need-to-know basis only. Often, businesses ask for personal information they really don't need, and will simply omit information you're not willing to give.

The U.S. Department of Justice answers the question, "What should I do to avoid becoming a victim of identity theft?"

Myth #7: Shredding my mail and other personal documents will keep me safe.

Shredding documents that contain personal information before you throw them away is a great way to protect yourself from "dumpster diving," which occurs when thieves search the trash for personal information. But relying on your shredder alone to protect you is like locking one window while leaving the rest of your house wide open. Think defensively: secure your personal information in your home, your car, and at work, and always use safe online security practices.

Get Safe Online offers tips on safe social networking.

The FTC answers the question, "How do thieves steal an identity?"

Robert Siciliano, identity theft speaker, discusses data theft on Fox News.

Robert Siciliano is CEO of IDTheftSecurity.com , an identity theft expert, professional speaker, security analyst, published author and television news correspondent. Siciliano works with Fortune 1000 companies and startups as an advisor on product launches, branding, messaging, representation, SEO and media. Siciliano's thoughts and advice on all these matters appear often in both the televised and print news media including CNN, MSNBC, CNBC, FOX, Forbes and USA Today. He has 25 years of security training as a member of the American Society of Industrial Security. He is the author of two books, including The Safety Minute: Living on High Alert; How to take control of your personal security and prevent fraud. He's also partnered with Uni-Ball to help raise awareness about the growing threat of identity theft and to provide tips on how you can protect yourself.