Identity Theft

It seems that when we think nothing else in our world can go badly wrong someone steals our identity. It’s no laughing matter, trying to prove to Credit Card companies that you didn’t spend the money that’s on your bill. More so, you didn’t over-draft your account at the bank, but there’s no way to prove it. You are sunk, there’s no doubt about it and the only thing left to do is call the Police, maybe they can help, but don’t hold your breath. The Police will look into it, but the damage is done, and even if they do catch the person or person’s who stole your identity, you still have to go through the hell of having your credit ruined, and that’s if they catch that person who stole your identity.

However, there are ways to protect yourself. If your mail- box doesn’t have a lock on it then put one that has a lock. If you are away on a trip, even for a weekend, no one can look inside your mailbox to steal what mail you may have left there. If no one is home during the week, again put a lock on your mail- box, especially during tax time. That’s when the thieves have a real ball. They wait for the Postman to deliver tax returns. No one is home, they walk up to your mail- box and whoopee, they have all your information wrapped up in an envelope that contains your tax return papers. You’re entire identity is in that envelope and a good thief will have all the information he/she needs to steal your identity.

Since I am Canadian I write about things Canadian for the most part, but what happens in Canada happens in the States too and you always have to on your own guard. If you are dining out, when the waiter or waitress comes to give you the bill, don’t just hand your credit card over to them, follow them and see what they are doing with your credit card. Some places in Canada have had cloning machines and while the customer was at their table sipping a coffee, their credit card was being cloned. Once it’s cloned, they have the best part of a month before your next bill comes in, or that bill shows up on your Credit Card, and by that time, your credit can already be in the dumps, and life, as you know it, will never be the same.

Another scam running in Canada now is mirror sites on the Internet. People put up these mirror sites, and by mirror sites I mean a site that looks real, but are fake. They pretend to be your bank and tell you there are problems with your account, but if you have five minutes or so, you can enter your personal information and they will correct the problems that they found in your account. Believe this or not, but this does happen a lot in Canada especially to older people un-aware of mirror sites that exist on the Internet. They enter their personal information on what they think is their bank site, and here we go again, all the personal information a crook needs has just been handed to him or her and now that person’s identity is stolen, easy as that.

We live in a very bad world these days. With all of the ways thieves can steal your money, now they steal your identity as well. The Police do catch some of them, but as many get away with it, and countless Millions of dollars have been stolen this way. Do be careful not to enter personal information on a Bank Site unless you know for sure, that it does belong to your bank and it’s not a mirror site. Do lock your mailbox and do follow your credit card wherever it should happen to go, out of your site. An old saying but one worth its weight in Gold. Better safe than sorry! Do everything you can to protect your identity, as only you are going to have to answer to Banks and or Credit Card companies if your identity is stolen.