You Could Be at a Higher Risk for Identity Theft If You Do These Things

© Provided by Business Insider wedding

In the past year, have you bought a house, sold a house, gotten married, gotten divorced, had a child, become pregnant, lost your job, or gotten a new one?

If so, you have a higher risk of identity theft.

All of these major life events have one thing in common, according to Paige Hanson, educational programs manager at Lifelock, the identity theft protection company: You’re sharing more personal information than you normally would.

Take buying or selling a house, for instance. “Your paperwork passes through the hands of multiple agents and representatives,” Hanson explains.

Those documents might include your Social Security number, date of birth, passport number, or copies of your driver’s license — all information that can be used to steal your identity.

Homebuyers are nearly three times as likely to be a victim of identity theft as the average person, according to statistics collected by Lifelock, and sellers are almost four times as likely.

You may not be able to avoid giving away that kind of personal information in a real estate transaction, Hanson says, but it’s always worth asking if providing your Social Security number, for instance, is really necessary.

“A lot of people think that just because they’ve been asked for information, they have to provide it,” she says. “Before automatically giving it away, ask why. A lot of times, they won’t have an answer. And maybe you’ll be encouraging them to change their security standards.”

Click here to read more

Source: Business Insider

Share this post