After you’ve read my stories about identity theft, I was hoping you could learn how you can protect yourself and what resources you can use in the event of it happening. As a person with visual impairment, the most important thing you can do is to educate yourself and empower yourself so that you don’t become a victim of this type of crime. A few months ago, I was able to attend a teleconference hosted Federal Trade Commission that was specifically for people with vision impairments. The presentation was rich in information, and resources were shared. I will now share this information with you.

How does Identity Theft occur?

It is essential to understand how identity theft happens. Identity theft can be caused by someone stealing your wallet, purse, or other personal belongings. This happened to me at Macy’s. You can also be harmed by someone stealing your mail. This could occur when a credit card application is sent to you by the thief. The thief will fill out the application, get approval for the card, change your address, and then shop with the stolen card. Identity theft can also happen when your family, caregivers, and friends steal your information. These types of identity theft are becoming more common. However, today data breaches like fishing emails disguised as legitimate are being used online to commit identity theft. These messages appear in my inbox from time to time. Sometimes they will ask me to click on the link to verify my information, but I don’t do that. Sometimes, I call the company to verify the message was sent. However, it turns out it is a scam, and the message has been deleted. Medical fraud and tax return theft are two other recent forms of identity theft. Criminals can gain access to your medical records, file a return, and claim your refund.

How to protect yourself against identity theft

How can you ensure your safety? The FTC suggests these innovative actions:

Your purse and wallet should be empty. Only keep the essential items you need. After my first encounter with identity theft, I stopped carrying my Social Security card and multiple credit cards.

You should shred all mail and documents containing personal information. Today, I bought a small shredder at an office supply shop. I use it to shred medical records, debit card receipts, and other items containing my bank information or personal data.

Carefully choose your advisors, caregivers, and assistants. This is a complex but crucial decision. You should only work with people you can trust and who have your best interests at heart. Because I don’t live near my family, I use a group of volunteers from my local rehabilitation center for blind people. They have undergone criminal background checks and are trained to help blind people. Referrals and references are also available if you’re working with someone you don’t know.

If you are unsure of the person you are dealing with, don’t divulge your personal information. These can be done in person or by telephone. I’ve had people come to my house soliciting, and I’ve received calls from telemarketers trying to sell me stuff. They call me to sell me things, and I always say no thanks.

Monitor your accounts. This could include your retirement, savings, and checking accounts. Every other day, I log on to my bank account online. You can call your financial institution if you cannot access the internet. If you notify your bank as soon as possible, many banks will quickly correct any errors.

Each year, get a free credit report. An excellent way to spot any criminal activity is to check your credit report. After my wallet was stolen from Macy’s, I got a copy of my credit report to see what was going on with my identity. The report showed that it was there every time the thief attempted to use my credit card to purchase. You can get your copy by going to http:www.annualcreditreport.com. You can also get your reports in Braille and large print formats.

Safety Tips

Here are some ways to protect yourself from identity theft online, as it is becoming more common.

Antivirus software should be kept current. Your antivirus software can become ineffective, allowing malware, phishing emails, and viruses to get into your computer’s hard disk.

Be careful using social networks. It is not a good idea for users to share too much information via social media like Facebook and Twitter. You should also take the time to set up privacy controls to ensure that only you and your friends have access to your data. I updated my LinkedIn profile to limit what is visible to the public. My birthdate and phone number are not listed on my profile.

Passwords that are difficult to guess should be used. It is more difficult to crack passwords with at least one capital letter, number, or symbol.

Make sure that the website you shop online is secure. Although I only shop online occasionally, I make sure to only order from sites with a good reputation.

Unsolicited email messages may contain links that you shouldn’t click. These messages should be deleted immediately after you receive them. You can also contact the company to inform them that email is being sent. They will be able to verify whether it is spam.