Young adults most often victims of identity theft

According to Javelin Strategy and Research's 2006 Identity Fraud Survey, young adults, ages 25-34, are more vulnerable to identity theft than any other age group. Javelin suggests some reasons for this are that most young adults lead a mobile lifestyle and that young adults are less likely to protect their personal information.

In the article Young adults most at risk for ID theft in the Chicago Tribune, author Carolyn Bigda suggests ways to avoid becoming a victim of identity theft, including:

• Protect your wallet from theft. If it does get stolen, make sure you have numbers to all of your banking companies in a place other than your wallet, so that you can quickly cancel the accounts.
• Do not carry your Social Security card in your wallet. Also, give out your Social Security number as little as possible. Before giving it to anyone, even a reputable company, make sure to ask if any other form of ID would be acceptable.
• Shred all trash with personal information on it. You can call 888-5-OPTOUT to stop getting pre-approved credit cards to minimize the amount of paper out there with your personal information on it. Also, you can request to get electronic statements to cut down on your paper trail.
• Secure your computer with a firewall and antivirus and anti-spyware software. Make sure your firewall is turned on and run your antivirus and anti-spyware software frequently.
• Ignore any emails asking for personal information. If you are worried that the email may be legitimate, call the company directly (do not call using a number found in the email). Most times, emails asking for personal information are "phishing" attempts.
• Check your credit regularly. You can get your credit report for free once a year from all three credit reporting agencies by going to www.annualcreditreport.com.

To see more advice on Computer Safety, check out these previous posts: Protect your wireless home network and Avoiding identity theft.