There are many steps you can take to help safeguard yourself against identity theft. From being more vigilant when shopping online to shredding personally identifying documents, good habits of safeguarding your personal information can help keep you from becoming an easy target. But did you know that what you may consider friendly social networking could be an invitation to identity thieves?
Sites all across the Internet are allowing for more fluid social networking and interpersonal exchange. Everyone knows of the overwhelming popularity of sites like MySpace® and Facebook®. But what you may not realize is that identity thieves can use the basic information you post on sites like these — or even masquerade as friends to obtain other necessary information — to assume your identity and fraudulently open accounts in your name.
It can be fun — and even beneficial — to become involved in social network websites, but you have to take precautions to ensure that your identity is not at risk. Many of these sites have spaces for your name, date of birth, location, e-mail, job, marital status and more! A lot of times, identity thieves can find most of your information they need with one click. If they still want more, what's to stop them from creating a fake profile, uploading fake pictures, and trying to befriend you for the rest of the information? It can be hard to determine which accounts are real and which are simply scammers looking for an easy target. There are, however, important security measures to help you protect the power of your identity and credit.
All reputable social networking sites offer privacy options that limit how much information strangers can see. The more stringent protection you choose, the less likely you are to become a victim of this type of identity fraud. These measures, however, do not protect you from confusing an identity thief with a potential friend, so it pays to be cautious when allowing people into your social network — if someone claims to be the friend of a friend, confirm that they are genuine. If you're still unsure, consider declining the connection. It's better to be safe than sorry.
Of course, guarding your personal information on social networking sites is just one step you can take towards thwarting identity theft. In addition to your personal information protection efforts, a monitoring product — like Equifax Credit Watch™ Gold with 3-in-1 Monitoring — can minimize the damage caused by identity theft by providing early warning of potentially fraudulent activity reported to your credit file. In the technology age, it's hard to keep your identity strictly to yourself. That's why it has become so important to monitor your credit — the first sign of identity breach. Make a commitment to protecting the power of your credit today.