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If you are worried about identity theft, then you may be wondering where abouts you can be affected by this crime, and the answer is – anywhere! Anywhere that you can think of, in any situation, and that is where people can get your details to use them in the form of identity theft!

First of all, look at your own home. You constantly throw away the garbage, but do you shred the garbage before you throw it away? It only takes one piece of paper with your personal details on to be stolen, and then you become a potential victim for identity theft. Having important documents on display could lead to a burglary. Things like bank statements, credit card statements, even simple letters containing your name and address, all can be used to steal your identity. Having an unsecured mailbox leaves you wide open, as does leaving mail in your mailbox while you go away on vacation. The way to prevent this, is to ensure that your mailbox is secured, and that you are the only one that has access to it, and also to get a reliable neighbour or friend that you know that you can trust to remove your mail from the box while you are away. You also need to be careful when visitors come to your door, or people calling you, that ask for personal details. Always ensure you check their I.D and check with the company they claim to be from before you give any information away.

Second of all, your identity can be stolen from your personal computer. The majority of people do not wipe their computer clean before they replace it with a new one and either throw it away or give it to somebody. All it takes is one vital piece of information to be left on that computer and your details can be stolen and used in the way to steal your identity. This, however, is not the only way your identity can be stolen with your computer. If you are connected to the internet, you are at risk of having spyware or viruses and the only way to protect yourself from this is to have adequate anti-virus or anti-spyware software. It doesn’t take a computer genius to work out how to use spyware, and it generally involves watching websites you visit and information you fill in. Firewall software can help to prevent this and you can also get programs that will prevent most bad things entering your computer. Another thing you need to watch out for is social networking sites. These are sites that you talk to friends on, or meet new people and these types of sites are on the increase. Generally, this sites include information about you, such as where you live, phone numbers, email addresses and even birthdays. In any other situation, giving away this information would seem a bit suspect but for some reason, it seems to be pefectly acceptable on these networking sites. Lastly, I would like to say, never enter personal information on a shared computer such as in a library or internet Cafe. This is for obvious reasons, just in case you don’t log out of a website properly, or they don’t have adequate protection.

The last place that you can be affected by identity theft, is out and about. Just walking to catch the transport to work in the morning or taking a trip to your ocal store can put you in danger of having your identity stolen. How well do you really shield your personal data when inputting a Pin at an ATM machine? Where do you keep your wallet or purse? You need to remember that if you have your wallet or purse on your posession, it can be stolen fairly easily by pickpockets, or you could leave it behind somewhere accidentally. How much personal information do you have on you when you are out? Is all of this absolutely necessary? Again, it’s a matter of common sense, and careful thinking.

You can be affected by identity theft anywhere you go, and although you can protect yourself in many ways, you can never be one hundred percent sure you are completely covered. Use your head and follow the simple guidelines and you will not be at that increased risk of being a victim if identity theft.