It’s never been more important to learn how to secure your personal information. That includes your credit card and debit card numbers, social security numbers, mailing address, and more.
This guide will help you protect your personal information, know if thieves are using your information, and learn how to recover from identity theft.
BEFORE: Put safeguards in place as preventative measures
There are a number of ways that your personal identity can be at risk. Some are, unfortunately, out of your hands (like a massive corporate data breach), but others are preventable.
We’ve chosen to focus on how to safeguard yourself against corporate and individual breaches, as well as common scams that are still in circulation. You can always take steps to make sure your personal information is more secure.
Encrypting physical credit cards
At a minimum, all consumers should have chip-based cards. If you have any magnetic-stripe cards remaining in your wallet, contact your issuer and see if they have updated cards available. If it’s possible to use a chip instead of swiping your card while shopping, always do so.
The same goes for contactless credit cards or mobile wallets….
