Who is more at risk of ID Theft?

In today’s world, practically anyone can become an Identity Theft victim. Who can say with any certainty that their personal and financial information will never be breached or fall into the wrong hands? There are certain characteristics however that can make you more “at risk” of becoming a victim.

Belonging to any of the high risk groups listed below does not necessarily mean you will have your identity stolen; it does mean there’s an increased chance compared to the average person. Also, if more than one of the following categories apply to you, the higher your chances of becoming a victim, and all the more reason for you to be more watchful and vigilant about ID Theft:

• if you have never checked your credit report
• if you seldom check each line item on your credit card and bank statements
• if you are a college or university student
• if you live or have lived with roommates
• if you have changed your residence recently or move frequently
• if you travel frequently or just came back from a long trip
• if your residence was robbed or broken into
• if you use your credit and debit cards frequently
• if you have an unlocked or unprotected mail box
• if you do not shred or destroy junk mail with your name, especially offers from credit card and finance companies
• if you do not safeguard or shred or destroy your credit card, bank, and other financial statements
• if you have ever lost or had any of the following stolen: wallet or purse, or any identifying document such as a Social Security card, driver’s license, government ID card, passport, medical insurance card, etc.
• if you do not use anti-virus, anti-spyware and firewall on your computer, or do not keep your software up-to-date
• if you are a high income individual

Since identity fraud comes in many forms and varying degrees of severity, and is a relatively recent type of crime, the list above is not complete by any means. So if you’re lucky enough not to fall into any of the risk categories above doesn’t mean you can simply stop taking precautions protecting your identity or that you can skip reviewing your credit reports. See section Protect & Defend for specific steps you can take to guard against ID theft.

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