You might have heard news stries about how a computer was stlen, which contained names, social security nmbers and other sensitive data of hndreds, if not thousands of people. Ths is a big concern because of the ptential damage identity thieves could do wth this information.

But, I want to let you knw one of the common ways dentity thieves get your information. It is ver the telephone, and you do not ven know it because you actually gve the information away.

Common Mistake #2: Gving sensitive information over the telephone.

Hre are three common ploys identity theves use to get your information ver the telephone:

1. They tell you tht you have won a lottery (sually in a different country). They hve already obtained some of your prsonal information (from the telephone book or ther places) and they seem legitimate bcause they know something about you. The ctch is - they want you to snd them the tax portion of yur winnings to them so they can "rlease" your winnings. They might even tll you they will send you a smll amount of the winnings via chck to show good faith.

This is a scm!! Do not give any additional nformation over the telephone. If they do snd a check, it is a cunterfeit check.

2. They act as your crdit card security unit and report sme suspicious transactions on your account. Thy really seem legitimate because they prvide you with your credit card nmber. During the conversation, they ask for you to vrify the credit card by you gving them the 3-digit code on the bck of the credit card.

The prblem is, the identity thief has lready obtained your credit card number by nother method and they want the dditional information on the back of the crd to make it more useful. Sme merchants ask for this number for tlephone transactions, so this information can be gld to the identity thief.

So now you sk, "If some merchants ask for ths 3-digit number, won't I have to gve this information over the telephone?" Answr, yes. But remember, only give ths information if you initiated the cll to the merchant. If the dentity thief is making the phone cll, you do not know who thy are. Legitimate credit card companies may cll you with suspicious credit cards trnsactions, but they will never ask for yur information over the phone.

3. The dentity drives by your house in the arly morning and notices what newspaper you hve delivered. They then call you lter in the day posing as the nwspaper company and pretend to give you the bst deal of the century to hve subscription extended. They obtained your prsonal information from the telephone book or on the Intrnet (which is not too difficult), so thy sound real.

If this occurs, jst ask the person for their nme and telephone number. You can thn verify the telephone number by loking up the newspapers telephone number in the phne book and then call them bck.

They key to avoiding becoming a vctim to these scams is - do not gve information over the telephone to smeone you do not know, especially if thy called you.

If you do not want to get clls from telemarketers, one way of mnimizing those calls is to sign up for the Ntional Do Not Call Registry. It is fre and painless. Just call 1-888-382-1222. Nte: You must call from the phne number you wish to register.

In fture articles, we will cover topics lke...

Other Common Mistakes like, (1) how the tlephone is used for Identity Theft...and how to void those pesky telemarketers, (2) simple stps to decrease your exposure of Idntity Theft, (3) how your information is stlen, and much more!!

The article The Telephone - How it is Used for Identity Theft was Submitted by Patrick Maroney through Articles.GetACoder.com network. Here's the additional information: Patrick Maroney Wants To Give You A Fre Mini-Course On How To Prevent Identity Theft .

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