Most people’s worst nightmare is to be a victim of identity fraud. Simple information like a date of birth, social security number and account number can lead to account takeovers, credit cards opened in your name, and unpaid debts to collections. Identity fraud takes several unexpected forms, and it’s very easy for your personal information to be lifted for these criminal purposes.

There are several common ways identity fraud is carried out. Online identity theft, considered to be the most popular form of identify fraud, is only one. Another method has been nicknamed “dumpster diving,” which involves stealing mail by rummaging through someone’s garbage for identifying documents.

These often include discarded receipts and paid bills, which all have identifying information on them that thieves find useful. One method used to fight identity theft is quite simple and effective: Consumers can reduce the risk of becoming the victims of identity fraud by buying and using a paper shredder. That way, no information of potential importance leaves the house intact.

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This entry was posted on Sunday, June 24th, 2007 at 10:27 am and is filed under Financial Services. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can leave a response, or trackback from your own site.