I’m sure you’ve heard of numerous identity theft victims and victims by now. Whether you’ve heard it on the news about one of Bank of Americas’ recent mistakes with the loss of personally identifiable information from millions of people, to read it in the newspaper and more. Identity theft is a growing problem and you definitely don’t want to be a victim of it if you can avoid it in any way. So what can you do to avoid becoming a victim of identity theft?

The first step is to go shopping for a cross cut shredder. The reason you don’t want a single cut shredder is that it is very easy for someone to put the pages and personally identifiable information together with the pages that are cut into single lines. Instead, use a cross-cut shredder. This cuts papers both lengthwise and sideways and makes it virtually impossible for identity thieves to extract the financial information necessary to cause you financial harm. Instead, they will go to another victim who is an easier target.

This is what you want to do, make yourself a difficult target for identity thieves to elude you and target someone else. You can get a good cross cut shredder for around $ 50 and it is definitely a very worthwhile investment. You can buy them at Wal-Mart or online at websites like Amazon.com, eBay, and even Craigslist. Just be sure to make sure it works before you buy if you’re shopping on Craigslist. There are many street vendors selling broken things on Craigslist.

Okay, now you have a cross cut shredder, next you need to make sure you don’t carry any personally identifiable information like social security numbers in your wallet and also make sure you only have one credit card in your wallet. No need to carry multiple credit cards and store cards in your wallet. This way, if you get stuck or lose your wallet, you just have to contact a credit card company to cancel your card and warn them that the card has been lost or stolen. This is much easier than some of these people who have 50 credit and store cards in their purse and cannot remember all the cards they have when it comes time to cancel them.

In addition to this, it is a great idea to keep an eye on the information on your credit report. You must get your credit from all three credit bureaus, not just one, as there are three different credit bureaus (Trans Union, Equifax, and Experian) and each has different information recorded on your credit history. Your credit report can quickly identify identity theft so you can take the necessary steps to stop it in its tracks and get law enforcement involved as soon as possible.

You should check your credit report to see if there are any abnormalities in the accounts you don’t have and / or never had. It’s also a good idea to check your credit report for any misinformation anyway, as this can affect your chances of getting a job or a decent loan rate on a car or mortgage loan. One last simple idea is to opt for a lockable mailbox. This will make it impossible for thieves to steal your mail, which is on the rise and is one of the leading causes of identity theft today.

By following the steps above and incorporating them into your plan to avoid becoming a victim of identity theft, you will greatly reduce your risks and your chances of becoming a victim. In most cases, a thief will target an easier victim and overlook it. This is what you want and you don’t want to become a victim of identity theft because it can take years to clean up. Good luck and I hope you never become a victim of identity theft.