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Realizing that your personal information has been stolen for someone else’s financial gain is incredibly scary, but also happening to more Americans each year. In 2014, the U.S. Department of Justice found that one in seven residents experienced identity theft. That’s over 17 million people in one year alone! Learn how criminals are using your personal information and what easy steps you can take to protect yourself from fraud.

Common Types of Identity Fraud

Although misuse of another person’s credit card is the most common type of identity theft, thieves can achieve much more damaging results with only a small increase in personal information.

Here are other types of identity theft criminals use for financial gain:

• New Account Fraud – Criminals will use personal information to open a new loan or financial account in your name, but with their contact details. You often won’t discover the fraud until their late payments have shown up on your credit report and hurt your credit score.
• Tax Return Fraud – Criminals file your tax return before you’re able and pocket your return money.
• Medical ID Fraud – Criminals use your medicare or health insurance ID to receive medical services or fraudulently bill insurance providers.

What You Can Do To Prevent Identity Theft

As scary as identity theft can be, preventing it can be simple! These tried and true fraud protection tips don’t cost you anything and are proven to combat the most common ways criminals steal your personal information.

1. Memorize your social security number (SSN). Don’t carry your social security card with you! Memorize the number and leave the card in a safe place. Your SSN can be used to open new accounts, steal your tax return, and even take advantage of your health insurance. It is the single most damaging piece of information an identity thief can use.
2. Beef up your passwords. Add a password to all of your mobile devices. Strengthen the passwords you already have by using a combination of letters, numbers, and symbols that don’t reflect common information like your birthday.
3. Protect your mail. Some thieves steal mail or divert it to a new address to learn personal information. Always remember to place a hold on your mail at your local post office when you know you’re going out of town. If a regular monthly bill or statement never arrives, double check if it was sent, as a thief may be diverting your mail to a new address.
4. Shred sensitive documents. You can never shred too much. Shred old financial forms, bills, account notices, etc. Some criminals dig through trash to find these types of old documents that still have your personal information on them.
5. Lighten your purse and/or wallet. Do you need to be carrying around ten credit cards every time you leave the house? The less identifying information and credit cards you carry with you, the less people you have to notify when your purse or wallet is stolen.
6. Remember that social media is never truly private. Don’t volunteer too much personal information on your social media profiles and never accept friend requests from people you do not know. It is easy to get lulled into a false sense of security on these websites, but always keep your security preferences set tightly.
7. Take advantage of your free credit reports! One of the best ways to discover if your identity has been stolen is to comb through your credit report for any accounts that you didn’t open or medical bills that do not apply to you. You can get a free credit report from the three major credit bureaus each year at com. Space them out at four month intervals to routinely monitor your credit.

Fraud protection can be as simple as not logging in to your bank account on public wifi or checking your financial statements every month. If you’ve become a victim of fraud, know that you’re not alone. It’s a problem that millions of Americans deal with every single year. Just use common sense and follow the above tips to protect yourself from identity thieves looking to make money off of your misfortune.

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