If you've ever had your credit card or personal information stolen, you know how frustrating it can be to have someone else using your identity for their own benefit.
The hassle of going through the paperwork and red tape to get it fixed can be maddening.
But many people don't discover the problem until it's too late.
A stolen identity can adversely affect your credit score and history for years.
That's why it's best to catch it before it happens.
Listed below are a few tricks scammers use to try and steal your personal information.
A phishing scam is an extremely common way for scammers to lure you into giving up personal information.
A very common method scammers use is to send an email posing as a reliable company like a bank or insurance company.
They may ask for you to provide account and password information via a link embedded in the email.
Don't ever log in through an email embedded link.
Go directly to the site.
Another common method is phone baiting.
Scammers may call an institution like a bank or insurance company, posing as a client in order to steal sensitive information.
Fortunately, many companies now train their employees on how to avoid phone baiting.
However, despite the various methods for stealing information, the most common is still the easiest.
Stealing documents is always easier than other methods.
Companies should make sure employees stay organized.
They should also ensure that sensitive documents are taken off-site and shredded by a reliable paper shredding company.
By making yourself aware of these tricks you can be prepared to avoid them.