The crime that is becoming common day by day is identity theft. The rate of this crime is reported to have been increasing every year. It involves stealing one’s personal information and making the wrong use of it. Some identity thieves may get access to bank account numbers and make use of the money deposited. Many can also use others personal information in committing many crimes, which results in the punishment of the innocent victim of identity theft. This crime can be done on corporate level as well as individual level. Corporate level involves many ways such as bribing an employer to provide the personal data of that company. Individual level identity theft involves stealing one’s wallet or even peering over a person, while he is taking out money from the ATM machine.

As more and more people are becoming the victims of this crime, many ways have been introduced to prevent it. These include making the business premises secure by setting alarms and locks on all doors. Make sure that the security system is checked by some security company. Never leave your business records and other personal data unlocked. Make sure all the cabinets are locked and files are kept safely, especially during lunch times or during a party.

One of the biggest mistakes done by the employers of a company is that they throw away the useless company information into garbage bins or trash cans. Many times identity thieves steal information from such places and misuse it. So another precaution that should be taken is that personal information should never be disposed into trash cans. Another way that thieves use to cheat others is to pretend on the phone to be someone else, and the other person speaks out all his personal information to him. Thus, be aware of such cases. Never tell any personal information on phone nor on mail, because emails can also be easily hacked. Put a password on your office computer or laptop so that anybody cannot access your information from it. Keep a password that has the least possibility of being guessed.

Identity thieves are very clever and use very diverse methods of stealing personal information. Many times ex employees make the wrong use of some of the access they have on the computers of the company. Therefore, each company should disconnect their ex employees as soon as possible. Another precaution to be taken is that personal information should never be put online. Information such as phone number, address, company’s name, family members etc. must never be put online for all viewers. Many people can misuse this information and use it to steal your identity. Moreover make sure that your wallet or purse that contains your personal information is kept safely. Keep a check on it even when you are out.

Also keep a check that there are no unauthorized payments done by your credit card. If everybody starts to follow these ways to prevent identity theft, then the rate of this crime will definitely go down. These are just a few everyday tips by which you can significantly reduce the chances of being a victim of identity theft.