by Nick Groen
5. December 2011 08:24
By: Lisa Papas, CPA, CFE
More and more people are concerned with the risk of identity theft. As I think we all know we can never eliminate the risk of our personal information getting into the wrong hands. On a daily basis we surrender our personal information and a thief could steal our personal information. What you can do is try to minimize this risk.
If you are using a computer you need to make sure you do a few simple steps to stop any perpetrators. Some of the things are pretty basic but are always important to remember. Make sure your computer has virus protection and that it is updated regularly. Select passwords that are complex. Never use mother’s maiden name, SSN or birth dates as your password. These are the first passwords that will be tried. A good firewall protection will protect your computer from unwanted intruders into your internet. Never share any personal information on the computer unless you initiated the transactions. Never open emails that look like spam. One of the things that we have seen more recently is emails that appear to be from the IRS. The IRS does not typically send emails they will contact you through regular mail so never respond to these types of emails. When it is time to get a new computer make sure you wipe out the old hard drive prior to disposing of this computer.
You can never totally protect you personal information but taking some initial steps could save you a lot of headaches in the future.