By: ALESSANDRA MALITO
Identity theft is more common than one may think, but there’s plenty people can do to protect themselves.
About 41 million adults in the U.S. have had their identity stolen and another 49 million know someone who has, according to a Bankrate.com survey of 1,000 people during a one-week period last month, which was conducted by Princeton Survey Research Associates International. Consumers can avoid sketchy situations by staying on top of accounts and using good privacy practices, experts say, especially as more data breaches occur.
“There is this kind of explosion of people who have been victimized in one way or another,” said Mike Cetera, credit analyst at Bankrate.com. Cetera says there are five things people can do to avoid identity theft:
• Don’t just throw out those bank statements and pre-approved credit card applications you get in the mail. Shred any documents with sensitive information.
• Check your credit reports — 42% of Americans do not regularly check their reports, Bankrate.com’s survey found. The three major credit bureaus (Experian EXPN, +1.28% Equifax EFX, -0.80% and TransUnion TRU, -1.40% ) each provide a free credit report every 12 months.
• Freeze your accounts with the three major credit bureaus if you suspect someone has gained access to your information.
• Don’t store sensitive information in your email accounts. When Yahoo admitted to a data breach that affected hundreds of millions of users, experts suggested those users change their password, set up two-factor authentication and actively watch their accounts.
• Do not engage in your accounts on unsecured networks — 36% of Bankrate.com’s survey respondents said they conduct banking and other sensitive activities on unsecured WiFi networks, such as the WiFi at a local cafe or if your home network is set up without a password.
Password management is also crucial. Your accounts are only as secure as they’re made, though 28% of the Bankrate.com survey respondents said their online account passwords are all or mostly the same.
Without safeguarding personal accounts, chilling encounters can ensue. One woman’s mother stole her identity as a child and racked up $500,000 in credit card debt — all while standing by her child’s side as she tried to figure out who had conducted the theft. A separate woman asked MarketWatch’s Moneyologist if she should report her mother for stealing her identity as a child to open up about 10 accounts.
In these instances, family members are unsure whether to file charges. Another couple dealt with a similar situation when his mother opened up numerous accounts in his name, with about $50,000 in debt. Other times, documents are physically altered, not just stolen, to get a few extra dollars, such as this case with a sister who believes she was owed $110,000 — not the $10,000 her brother gave herwhen her mother died.
Where you live also influences how likely it is you’ll be a victim of identity theft. Most complaints per capita were found in Missouri, Oregon, D.C., Washington and Florida and the fewest were in South Dakota, Hawaii, North Dakota, Iowa and Nebraska, a WalletHub study last year found.
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