Research points out that one in every fourteen Americans are victims of identity theft. Now, that is one intriguing fact to be scared of. Advent of internet has visibly made our lives a lot easier, however; it has also left us with a series of banes, identity theft being one of the most notable among them. In an era, when there is so much personal information being shared online every day, the risk of identity theft taunts as the most prevalent issue to be careful of.
Personal information getting compromised is perhaps the most grueling circumstance that a person faces, especially today, when the majority of us prefer storing up private confidential information like passwords, credit card PIN, social security number, etc in digitized format within a preferred device. In worst cases, if such important information gets hacked, then the consequences could be disastrous. Starting from your bank accounts and utility accounts to credit cards and tax refund requests; an identity thief can access and exploit your information as and when he wants. Thus, it is extremely essential to be aware of the threats and the related s. afety procedures.
The following is a list of warning signs that an individual needs to be careful about in order to identify an incident of identity theft and take necessary actions at the earliest.
- Unauthorized and unexplained withdrawals from a particular bank account, without the knowledge of the account holder.
- An individual stops receiving the bills and other necessary mails that used to arrive at specific intervals before.
- Debt collectors start contacting for a debt that was not actually accounted for a person concerned.
- Prevalence of unfamiliar charges and accounts within the credit report.
- Unauthorized medical charges for services that were actually not rendered.
- Sudden rejection of a medical claim stating that the benefit limits have been crossed.
- IRS notification stating that more than one tax return was filed under a specific name.
These are some of the probable warning signs that portray that your personal and confidential information has been compromised. Apart from being alert about the above mentioned indications, it is equally important for an individual to ensure that the information stays safe and secure. In order to protect private information from the risks of theft, one can consider opting for software applications like Lifelock mobile wallet protection that creates a firewall and restricts information from getting compromised.