Important... Keeping Your Personal Info Safe

Technology today has made our world much smaller,any documents that you do not need any longer
and has given us amazing tools such as the Internet,instead of just tossing the paperwork into the trash.
high speed Personal Computers [ PC's ] and medicalIdentity thieves will also try to dupe you into giving
technology that we could only dream about no sopersonal information either in person, over the phone or
very long ago.by using fraudulent official sounding e-mails. And of
With the good comes the bad. Many today have theircourse, today's personal computers can hold plenty of
privacy invaded by unscrupulous groups and individualsinformation useful to fraudsters. It is very important that
in our society intent on obtaining personal informationwe use proper firewalls, use reliable and up to date
by whatever means. These thieves have the tenacityanti-virus software and programs that can identify and
to use the very technology that has been trulyweed out spam, trojans or other mal-ware.
beneficial to everyone and use it against theIt is in your best interest to be wary. Be suspicious of
unsuspecting public. The identity thieves trick theanyone seeking too much personal information, and
unsuspecting public and gain this personal informationdon't be afraid to challenge them by asking "why do
via such methods as hacking personal files on theyou need those details?" - a legitimate enquirer won't
Internet and using rouses like spam and other trickymind you asking. Make sure you store all important
techniques such as phishing to steal your identity.documents and details, such as your birth certificate,
Understanding how the unscrupulous obtain this privatenational insurance number, receipts and bank
information help us to look at ways to make it harderstatements, in a safe place.
for these low-lives to play their game.As mentioned earlier, anything containing personal
Thieves can use even the most mundane of personalinformation that you intend to throw out should be
details to help them "verify" that they are someonedestroyed before it is put in the trash bin. Using a
they aren't. One of the most common ways ofhousehold paper shredder is not taking things too far. If
obtaining personal details is "trash bin raiding". Thisyou think you have become the victim of an identity
tactic is surprisingly common in affluent areas and isthief, report it to the police, local authority and relevant
spreading out of towns to the countryside; with 75%government departments or companies immediately.
of local authorities now admitting it happens regularly inWe should also keep personal information stored on
their jurisdiction.computers in "encrypted" folders. Encryption scrambles
An exercise carried out with the support of the Englishthe contents of your chosen folder so it cannot be
Nottingham City Council and Nottingham Shire Policeread by anyone else. You can "unscramble" the
analyzed the contents of hundreds of household binscontents using a password. Many well-known
to see what people were throwing away. It found thatsoftware companies offer free downloads to help you
a whopping 86% of domestic rubbish containedwith encryption, or encryption can be an option under
information helpful to fraudsters.your standard operating system.
Three quarters of the bins that were checkedMaking sure that all our private information is kept from
contained the full name and address of at least oneroaming eyes may not sound too hard to do. But there
person from the household, while 20% of trash binsare many people who are aware of this problem,
contained a bank account number and other data thatknow how to protect their data, but either through
could be linked to the name and address of a personneglect, laziness or just not taking the time to do what
from the house.is suggested, are sitting ducks for the personal data
So don't keep all of your bills, receipts and otherthieves.
personal documents in an obvious place and if you canPlease....don't let you or anyone in your family be that
lock it away, do so… If you don't haveperson. Thoughts and intensions are great but without
anywhere to lock it, try and keep it somewhere out ofaction there is no accomplishment. Put these
the way, or separate it out.recommendations into effect today!
Consider investing in a good paper shredder! Shred