Identity Theft Protection Tips

About every 73 seconds in the United States, some form of identity theft takes place. But there are ways to stop it from happening to you. For home buyer's — a helpful guide to preventing ID theft during your home buying process.

Your Guide to Preventing ID Theft

Every consumer should be proactive about identity theft protection and related actions. But home buyers in particular need to keep this subject in mind.

When buying a home, you will reveal more personal information to more people than perhaps any other time in your life. So we would like to arm you with the following ID theft prevention tips and tools.

What Is Identity Theft Anyway?

Let's start with the basics here. What exactly is ID theft and how does it affect people who are buying a home? Identity theft occurs when somebody poses as you in order to gain access to your financial information, and to use that information for criminal purposes.

For example, if somebody used your name and Social Security Number to take out a loan, ID theft would be taking place. This is only one form of identity theft. We will discuss some other types below.

How Common Is It?

According to surveys and studies, one in four U.S. households have fallen prey to identity theft of some kind. That means that, in this country alone, millions of people are affected by ID theft each year. The FTC reports that it's the most common consumer complaint ... for several years in a row!

These disturbing numbers are the primary reason we have created this tutorial in the first place. Make no mistake — identity theft protection is an important topic for U.S. consumers in general, and it's especially important for people applying for a mortgage loan.

The Different Types of ID Theft

Unfortunately, identity theft comes in many forms. Criminals use various tactics to steal the personal information of others, and then to use that information for criminal acts. According to the FTC, the most common forms of ID theft are:

• Credit card fraud
• Bank fraud
• Phone / utilities fraud
• Employment-related fraud
• Government documents / benefits fraud
• Loan fraud

With this being a home buying website, we will focus on the last item on the list above. Specifically, I will offer tips for identity theft protection when buying a home and applying for a mortgage loan.

You Are Not Helpless!

The point of this tutorial is to educate you on the ways that you, as a consumer, can prevent ID theft from happening in the first place. A lot of people feel they are helpless against these acts, that if somebody wants to steal their identity there's not much they can do about it. These people are wrong. There is a lot you can do to stop identity theft from occurring.

Here are some specific steps that home buyers can take to prevent ID theft during the home buying process:

• If you fill out a mortgage quote request online, ensure that you're on a secure website. If the web address begins with "http://www" ... it's a non-secure website. If the address begins with "https://www" ... the website is secure. Notice the 's' in the second example that signifies a secure website.
• Real estate transactions generate a lot of paperwork. Keep necessary documents under lock and key. Dispose of unnecessary documents by shredding them (as opposed to just throwing them away.
• Handle your financial transactions in person, as much as possible. If you have to send something through the mail, use certified mail. Avoid using email altogether when transmitting personal information.
• Sign up for an identity theft prevention service like the one recommended below (LifeLock).

Identity Theft Protection Services

In reaction to the ongoing epidemic of ID theft in the United States, many companies have risen up to take on the challenge and to help consumers protect themselves. Collectively, these companies are referred to as identity theft protection services, and they come in several "shapes and sizes."

Most of these prevention services work in much the same way. Through a combination of actions, these services will create fraud alerts on your behalf, while also reducing the amount of "pre-approved" credit card offers you receive. These actions, when combined with other identity protection techniques, can greatly reduce the risk of ID theft occurrences.