The Holiday Season always brings out the best and the worst in people. Theft is always higher during the Holidays so while shopping this Holiday season please use some caution to prevent Identity Theft.
I did a little research on the internet and found some tips that could save you some money and lots of time by NOT becoming a victim of Identity Theft. Most of these are common sense, but it is amazing what we see here in our agency and hear about from other Insurance Agents and friends about Identity Theft victims.
Use secure online shopping sites- at the beginning of the site’s URL you should see SHTTP or HTTPS indication the purchase is secure/encrypted.
Check out the seller – look for online merchants that are a member of verisign.com or bbbonline.org.
Use caution with social media – Be suspicious of offers you didn’t sign up to receive even if they come from “friends”. This is becoming a bigger and bigger problem.
Never give out your account numbers or Social Security Number!
Consider how you’ll pay - use a credit card whenever you can in case anything goes wrong with the order. You should be able to dispute charges later.
Use a secure computer – Don’t save your info on a public computer
If you have any fear that your identity has been stolen contact the Federal Trade Commission Identity Theft Hotline at 1-877-ID-THEFT
We do offer ID Theft Protection for just pennies per day, just hit the reply button and ask us about it.
