Preventing Identity Theft During Holiday Shopping

There are few times of the year more tempting to thieves than the holiday shopping season.

Whether you find yourself online or in the stores, you could become a victim of identity theft—unless you take measures to prevent it, such as these:

Card smart. Minimize the number of cards you use and cut up those you don’t. Review your statements every month to watch for any unauthorized transactions. And keep a list or copy of your accounts in a safe place, so if a card is stolen, you can quickly stop its use.

Receipt discrete. Carry your receipts in your wallet and not in the shopping bag. Importantly, don’t throw them in a public garbage pail; shred them when you get home.

Empty your wallet. If you’re headed for the stores, it’s best if you leave out of your wallet anything that could compromise your identity, such as a Social Security or military ID card, banking information or ATM receipts. And never leave your wallet or purse in the car.

If it’s faux, just don’t go. Search results can sometimes take you to sites that look legitimate, but aren’t. Look closely at the web address; if the company name is misspelled or “deals” or “discounts” are part of the web address, it can suggest the site is phony and you’ll want to avoid it.

Don’t be phishing bait. Be careful with opening emails—even from someone or some place you know. Phishing is where you receive an email from a familiar source, but its intent is to extract personal information. Phishy messages sometimes have spelling or grammatical errors, sound urgent and/or link to an unrecognized website.

Contact us for all of your insurance needs! 

Illinois and Wisconsin residents, at R Hobbs Insurance Agency, we can work with you to make sure you’ve got the coverage you need, while at the same time using all possible credits and discounts to make that coverage affordable. Just give us a call at (847) 680-0888 or send us a note at [email protected]. We want to help you meet your goals, and make sure what’s important to you is protected!

 Content source: Kemper