How to Spot and Avoid Equity Scams

Most lenders on the equity loan marketplace are legitimate lenders; however, a few lenders are taking the less fortunate for a ride. These unscrupulus lenders offer appealing loans, yet fail to tell the borrower about hidden charges or "balloon" charges. Hidden charges are often stripped from loans, since the APR is a supposed security to borrower that weeds out hidden fees.

"Equity Stripping" is one of the leading scams on the loan marketplace. The lenders engaging in "equity stripping" will often present to borrowers (too good to be real) deals, leading them to believe that they are saving money. Thus, once the borrower agrees to the contract, the lender will pose new charges, high interest, and other fees that puts weight on the borrower, until he or she breaks and fails to make payments on the mortgage. The lender then repossesses the home, selling the house for profit while the borrower is standing on the corner, wondering where he will live next.

Thus, the Federal Government has provided information to help borrowers avoid losing. Since equity stripping is becoming a huge industry, the Fed’s advise homeowners to watch out for equity stripping, including paying attention to lenders that are offering loans that reach above your wages.

The feds also advise borrowers to stay alert to "loan flipping", which is the process of switching loans regularly and requesting larger amounts of cash on each refinance applied. If a lender is pressuring you to sign an agreement, you will need to find another lender, since pressuring borrowers is a surefire tip that the lender is out to take you for a ride. You will also want to consider PMI, which is personal mortgage insurance, which is a requirement; however, few lenders attempt to charge for additional coverage that is not needed. Thus, homeowners, especially the less fortunate, should adhere to advice and read details of any loan offered thoroughly.

Low Cost Advertising and Scams on the Internet

"A business without a sign is a sign of no business". This is an advertising banner or quotation that can be seen in large billboards along the roads and on the side or top of buildings that is vacant. Television and radio would say, "This program would not be shown or be heard without advertisement". It is true since most of us are watching the free television channel and programs are produced by payments of advertisements.

Business owners understand how important an advertisement is. It is in this manner that they would tell to everybody that they are selling products and offering services. They would not have sales, which in turn give them profit, if people would not notice and buy their products and avail of their services.

However, it is not happy to note that there are people who would try to steal money from advertisers and business owners by offering cheap advertisement packages and not delivering the agreed service. Business owners and advertisers should be informed of this because they would become victims of a scam.

The scam here is when the advertiser paid for these different kinds of services but none or some of them are not really even performed. The main point to consider here is to whom is the advertiser transacting with. To avoid being ripped off doing a background check by knowing the following will help.

* past successful projects as evident on customers comments

* a good reputation that will be confirmed by his references, (people that he's had past transaction with and that are also reputable)

The pay-per-click ad campaign is when an advertiser would pay a certain agreed amount by the search engine developers every time a user clicks on that banner. This was a good idea before it was not touched by hackers who developed a certain program to automatically click on that banner which increases the amount to be paid by the advertiser. The next paying scheme was the “pay per action”, which is harder to hack since the advertiser would only pay the search engine developers an agreed amount every time a sale would be done on that customer.

One thing is for sure, advertising in the Internet is not easy but it is fun, especially when one understands fully the power of the Internet. It is not a unidirectional means of advertising like the television or radio, but it is an interactive avenue for both the advertiser and the prospective clients.

eBay Users: What You Need to Know About Phishing Scams

Are you an eBay user? Whether you use eBay to do your online shopping or if you use eBay to generate extra income for yourself, as an eBay seller, there is something that you need to be aware of. As an eBay user, whether you are a seller or a buyer, you need to be on the lookout for phishing scams. Phishing scams are rapidly increasing in popularity and many are using eBay as a front. To protect your identity, as well as you finances, you need to be on the lookout for them.

If you are relatively new to eBay or online shopping in general, you may not know exactly what phishing scams are. Do you? If not, you should know that phishing scams are actually complex online scams. A shady individual or a scammer makes a fake website that is similar to eBay or at least a fake eBay sign in page. You are then sent an email that appears as if it was from eBay. The only thing is that it wasn't. The goal of a phishing scam is to get you to visit the fake page and enter in your eBay sign in information, including your eBay screen name and your eBay password. Once a scammer has your information, they get access to you personal information stored on eBay, as well as free use of your eBay account.

One of the reasons why phishing scams are so easy to fall victim to is because they give you the impression that is something is wrong with you eBay account or that you did something wrong yourself. For instance, many phishing scams contain a message asking why you didn't pay for an item that you ordered or outline the fact that your eBay account has been suspended. The goal is to get you so worried that you will automatically click on the link to get the problem solved; however, as previously mentioned, the link takes you to a site that looks just like eBay, but it isn't. There is where the trouble comes in.

If you get an eBay phishing scam email, you will want to do a little bit of detective work, before actually clicking on the link. In fact, you shouldn't even click on the link. The first thing that you will want to do is look at your name, as most eBay phishing emails start with “Dear eBay Member,” or something along those lines. Real eBay messages will refer to you by your eBay screen name or even your real name. You can also roll your mouse over the link provided to you and see where it will actually take you. In most cases, you will find that you are being directed to another site, not eBay.com. All eBay messages should appear in your “My eBay,” message box. To see if eBay really sent you an email, you can log into your eBay account, from a brand new window that you open up, and check your messages, if you even have any at all.

If you do receive an eBay phishing scam email, you are advised to contact eBay or examine eBay's help center. There you will find instructions on how to report the email or send a copy of it to eBay. Although your first thought may be to delete the eBay phishing scam email, you will actually want to follow eBay's reporting instructions. You may know that you are being scammed, but other may not. Reporting an eBay phishing scam to eBay allows them to take care of the problem; thus likely reducing the number of eBay users who fall victim to similar scams.

Now that you know exactly what eBay phishing scams are, you are urged to be on the lookout for them. Keeping an open eye is your best line of defensive against eBay phishing scams or any phishing scams for that matter.

Senior Citizen Scams

If you have a senior citizen in the family, there really is nothing more heartbreaking than to discover than to find out that your loved one has been the victim of a senior citizen scam which robbed them out of their precious retirement savings and puts their retirement at risk. When you come to the realization that this wholesale robbery has occurred, you don't know who to be angry at. It's easy to want to be angry at your parent or grandparent but its they who are the victim here. They need your love and help more than ever now, not guilt and anger.

But its you who feels victimized as much as your loved one. By robbing your parent or grandparent of their savings, they could be come a liability to the family which will be costly to you and your siblings. You are not going to let your own flesh and blood go hungry or go with out medical care or a good place to live.

These are good motivations to know what can be done about senior citizen scams so you can have a plan of attack. Now, once the scam has been executed, there may be some resources to track down the crooks and recover the lost funds. Scams come in all shapes and sizes. They may come in the form of an internet scam that steals thousands from your parent or grandparents credit cards. They may come from home repair scams that cost them big bucks and deliver nothing. They may be "get rich quick" schemes that targeted your loved ones because they were concerned about retirement savings.

If you can locate who scammed your loved one, be relentless in pursuit of them. Don't be afraid to enlist the aid of local media. Local television news teams often have groups trained to go out and target these scam artists and expose them to public scrutiny and distain. Scam artists are like cockroaches. They don't like attention and they don't want to be noticed. If you can get your scam artist under that kind of microscope, they will often crack and return the stolen funds rather than face further attention.

But there is a limit to what you can do legally and it's not a good idea to go after them personally. Not only do you not need to commit a crime yourself but these people are criminals so they may not be the kind of people you want to tangle with. So be smart but if the funds cannot be recovered, just get control over the situation, stop payment on any checks and cut off the funds quickly to stem the hemorrhaging of funds from your senior citizen loved one's accounts.

The real defense against senior citizen scams is prevention. Even if it is just this article that raised the red flag for you, start now finding out how your retired parents or grandparents are using their funds. One way to do this is to offer taking over the management of their money. They may love to see you handle paying their bills and worrying about their taxes so they can relax and enjoy their retirement. Then you can be sure that any money that goes out through those accounts goes to proper and worthwhile uses.

But talk to your senior citizen to inform them of the dangers of scams. Many times people of the previous generation are too trusting and easily convinced of the validity of a scam. They need to have that high level of distrust so they become virtually scam proof. One rule you may put in place might be that they have to review any investment or new expenditure with you so by talking about it, proper questions can be asked. Convince your senior citizen that anything that cannot stand up under scrutiny is probably a scam. Make sure you emphasize to them that any offer that must be done now or could be lost if you require documentation is not a worthwhile business no matter how enticing their offer is.

By instilling a measure of caution and skepticism in your senior citizen and by becoming a watchdog of their resources yourself, perhaps you can spare your senior parent or grandparent from the heart ache of a senior citizen scam and deny access of crooks to the ones you love.

What is accounting fraud?

Accounting fraud is a deliberate and improper manipulation of the recording of sales revenue and/or expenses in order to make a company's profit performance appear better than it actually is. Some things that companies do that can constitute fraud are:

* Not listing prepaid expenses or other incidental assets

* Not showing certain classifications of current assets and/or liabilities

* Collapsing short- and long-term debt into one amount.

Over-recording sales revenue is the most common technique of accounting fraud. A business may ship products to customers that they haven't ordered, knowing that those customers will return the products after the end of the year. Until the returns are made, the business records the shipments as if they were actual sales. Or a business may engage in channel stuffing. It delivers products to dealers or final customers that they really don't want, but business makes deals on the side that provide incentives and special privileges if the dealers or customers don't object to taking premature delivery of the products. A business may also delay recording products that have been returned by customers to avoid recognizing these offsets against sales revenue in the current year.

The other way a business commits accounting fraud is by under-recording expenses, such as not recording depreciation expense. Or a business may choose not to record all of its cost of goods sold expense fore the sales made during a period. This would make the gross margin higher, but the business's inventory asset would include products that actually are not in inventory because they've been delivered to customers.

A business might also choose not to record asset losses that should be recognized, such as uncollectible accounts receivable, or it might not write down inventory under the lower of cost or market rule. A business might also not record the full amount of the liability for an expense, making that liability understated in the company's balance sheet. Its profit, therefore, would be overstated.

Scam Domain Names

Do you think buying something as simple as a domain name means that industry is free from scams? If you do think again, since everyday hundreds of people get milked out of their money thinking they are going to get a perfect domain name. Granted, fraudulent domain name companies haven't received as much press as 'work-at-home' companies or other businesses of that nature, but they are still just as deviant. The two main ways a domain name company goes about scamming its customers involves either selling the domain name at a ridiculously high price and/or not delivering the domain name as promised.

The typical price of a domain name ranges from being 0 dollars to around $35. However, if a domain name company is shady they could charge a price that is much higher. This fee could range from $300 to over $2,000. And, unlike legitimate web hosting companies that might charge such a fee, domain name companies of a shady vein do not offer other services such as web hosting or marketing assistance. Their sole sale is of the domain name.

The second way fraudulent domain name companies scam people is by not providing a domain name at all. This happens a lot with so-called 'free' domain names, but can also happen with paid ones of any price. The normal turnaround time for domain name forwarding ranges from 1 to 7 days. If this timeframe has passed and a customer has not received a domain name, they probably won't receive one.

What does a person do if they discovered they've been scammed? Well, if they fall for the first scam where they pay hundreds for a domain name, they may not be able to do much, if the company does indeed deliver the domain name. At most they could try to get a refund, but this is a long shot since companies that shady probably won't allow for such things.

On the other hand, if a domain name hasn't been delivered at all, a person can first file a complaint with the Internet Crime Center, (also known as IC3). This organization has a partnership with the FBI and the National White Collar Crime Center. So, if they think a domain name company has acted in a fraudulent manner, they could use these entities to help conduct criminal investigations against them.

Next, the jilted party needs to consider filing a complaint with the Better Business Bureau. Although this organization doesn't have as many legal/governmental ties as the Internet Crime Center, it still has a lot of power. This is because many people turn to the BBB before they decide to do business with a company. By filing a complaint with them, a person that has been scammed could protect others from undergoing these same difficulties.

Finally, there's the option of reporting the fraud to the credit card company or payment processor. If a credit card company determines fraud has occurred, webmasters will at least get their money back. If payment processors such as Paypal think fraud has occurred, they will proceed with freezing the account of the domain name company. When this happens they cannot do further business until they clear up the discrepancy.

Avoiding Online Gambling Scams Before they Happen

Gambling scams were never as recognized and as widespread as when it finally came in contact with cyber space. Online gambling, although beneficiary for those gambling aficionados, allowing them to gamble and avail of the enjoyment at home, also has some of its downsides more specifically the existence of online gambling scams.

Online scams usually include the refusal of a certain game company to "give you" your winnings. Some gambling scams may even go as far as totally refusing to let you win with absurd probabilities, and then refusing to let you cash out the remaining money you’ve got left.

One way to avoid these scams is to know what they are. Here are two most prevailing online gambling scams that you should be aware of, and should be able to detect easily.

Illegitimate Bonuses

Some gambling companies even go as far as inviting their former scammed customers under the ruse of “bonuses” telling them how sympathetic they are about you being scammed, and offering a bonus if you play with them instead. Just think, where did they get your contact details? Well they got it from that short form you filled out when you joined the first scam casino, and they’re actually looking to rip you off again.

What do they do? When it’s actually time for you to claim your bonus, they say that you are ineligible to receive the bonus.

To avoid being re-scammed, never fall for these types of offers. Even if you haven’t been scammed yet, they’d still send you a bonus offer then refuse to give it to you once you’ve deposited your money. A good rule of thumb with online gambling, if it’s too good to be true, then it probably is.

Piracy

One way to know a legitimate online casino is its affiliations and memberships; one such is the Interactive Gaming Council (ICG). However, logos provided by such organizations can easily be copied on the net, and what scammers do, is they imitate, sometimes, go as far as duplicating the design of a legitimate casino to pass off theirs. It is a good measure to look up the name of the online casino on the members list of the certain organization. ICG and others usually provide an easy to browse and search members list on their web sites.

To make sure that the casino you’re subscribing to is legit, type the company name and the word review in the search engine and read about them, you’ll more or less get an idea of how they work.

Auto Leasing Scams

Car-leasing has been lauded as a more attractive alternative to buying, offering in the process the flexibility to drive a new car for less. The reality, however, is that leasing is an option that is fraught with many pitfalls for the average customer. Leasing regulation does not require as much disclosure as buying a vehicle. This has given rise to many leasing scams that trick the customer into believing they are into a good deal when, in effect, all he is getting is a rough deal on the dealer's terms.

Here we look at some of these common scams and how to avoid them;

Artificially low interest rates:

Some dealers quote a lower interest rate when in reality it's much higher. They do this by either purposefully quoting the money factor as the interest rate or calculating the loan without amortizing some closing fees, like the security deposit, into the loan lease. Take the money factor for example: this is typically expressed as a four decimal digit, something like 0.004. Some dealers quote this as a 4% interest rate when in fact you need to multiply it by 24 to get a rough idea of the interest rate on your loan. In this example, the interest rate is a much higher 9.6% than the “quoted” rate of 4%. Make sure you crunch the numbers and understand the formula they use to calculate their interest rate. Look out for any fees not factored into the calculation. If you are not satisfied, do not enter into the lease agreement.

Terminate your lease early for a low penalty

This is an all-time leasing scam. You ask your dealer how much you will pay if you want to terminate your lease and he tells you: “You want to get out early? Sure thing, you only pay an early termination fee of $300”. What he is quoting is only the small administrative penalty of early termination, there is a much stiffer penalty called early termination fee and this runs into thousands of dollars. Do not confuse the early termination administrative penalty with the termination fee. Read the small print carefully and know exactly how much you will get charged should you terminate your lease before its scheduled end.

Pay for an extended warranty you don't need

This is another shell game to inflate the dealer's profit at your expense. The dealer slides an extended-warranty into the deal whilst it's already factored into the monthly payments, or he tricks you into buying a 36-month warranty on a 24-month lease. You do not have to pay extra money for a warranty already built into your payments or for one that goes well beyond your lease term. They might slip an extended warranty in. Don't be fooled, the warranty is already factored in.

No security deposit

Any dealer who advertises a $0 security deposit is not telling you the whole story. A security deposit is always factored in the lease under the provision for disposition fees.

Data Entry Scams

Many people have grown weary after trying many Data Entry programs only to have lost their time and money. It is very easy to get scammed on the Internet now days. Whenever there is a lot of people that are making money, the old scammers will come to get their share.

It is good to see people at least trying to do some fundamental research. You can see the phrases being searched for by checking the online search engines. They are phrases such as data entry scams, data entry job scams, data entry online scams and data entry work at home scams.

I have written in many of my articles that research is the key in my opinion. No one has a crystal ball, but with the proper research you can put yourself in the best chance for success. You can't just join the first program you find that promises you the world, and expect to be successful. You will either have to find a website like mine, but not necessarily mine, that has done some research for you or spend the hours to do the research yourself. It's that simple, otherwise you can expect to have limited success.

In my research I wanted Data Entry companies that had good, customer support, product, track record of on time payments, step-by-step guidance on how to be successful with their program and a money back guarantee when possible. I also encourage feedback from my customers to ensure that if there is any change I am able to respond quickly.

There is another side to this whole scam thing. Many times people will see the ads, join a program, not do any work and expect to be paid a lot of dollars. It's simple if you are not prepared to do any work at home, then don't join, because chances are you are not going to be happy or make any money. The folks that join under these circumstances typically end up quitting and calling the program a scam and move on to lose some money somewhere else. Many times programs are called scams when actually its either someone wanting to get paid for doing nothing or it's simply not a good fit for that person. That's why I particularly like the money back guarantee programs, because this minimizes this problem. Sometimes when a company gives the person the refund, it does not help, because the person goes around on forums posting that they have been scammed anyway. Sad!

It's sad because viable programs get scammed and lumped in with the really bad programs that are out there. There is plenty of the bad ones out there already without anyone adding to the list. You need to either do the research or use a website that has done it already to have a chance for success.

If you are reading this article you more than likely have the skill sets and equipment necessary to work from home doing data entry.

Here is what you need to do:

1. Find a good program using the methods mentioned above

2. Join the program

3. Start working the program either full or part time

4. Have some patience, while you get your work at hope program up and running

With some research, discipline, patience and yes a little luck you will be on your way to making a nice income while sitting in the comfort of your home.

Please feel free to read more of this article by visiting my link in the resource box below. I always enjoy getting emails pertaining to my articles or my site. Your feedback is important to me.

Protect Yourself From Fraud While Making Money On Craigslist

You can make money on craigslist.org, Just as easily as you can make money, you can also lose it. There are many unscrupulous individuals out there who are just waiting to take your money and run. So how do you protect yourself from fraud while making money on craigslist.org?

There are many things you can do so let's start with the very basics. Craigslist.org has a short piece on how to protect yourself from fraud. Before you start to buy and sell on craigslist.org you should familiarize yourself with this document. This however, is just the first step.

Now that you have read that article on craigslist.org, let's review it here and build on the concepts that it covers. First, remember that craigslist.org is a local list. Any communication from someone outside the general area, especially from outside the country, should be viewed with suspicion. There are plenty of check, certified check, and money order scams out there. This is also true for wire transfers. Here is a good way to protect yourself from fraud while making money craigslist.org. Never accept a check, or certified check from someone outside of the US. If you decide to sell to someone in another location, request that they send you an international money order. This can be cashed at the post office and it is traceable. Never ship goods until the payment has cleared. Do not fall for the partial payment. Never ship COD, never ship until you have cleared available funds that are payment in full. Overall it is safer not to deal with anyone who is not local. A face to face transaction is far better than one where you never meet your customer.

After covering payments, we need to cover other types of scams. Get cash whenever possible. This avoids most problems. Let buyers know that your sale is as is, no refunds not returns accepted. Craigslist.org will not get involved in any aspect of the sale. They do not offer "safe harbor" like eBay, they do not certify buyers and sellers, and they do not offer buyer or seller protection. If someone is touting themselves as craigslist.org certified, they are lying. Do not conduct business with them.

Here are some other things to be aware of. Always set up a meeting to see the merchandise that you are buying. Craigslist.org is a local community website. Anyone who does not want to meet you or if they do not want to let you see the merchandise first hand that you are buying then chose another seller.

Are you looking for a work at home opportunity? While there are legitimate offers out there, be very careful about assembling items at home, envelope stuffing, medical transcriptions, and just about anything else that seems too good to be true. If it seems too good to be true it usually is. Do your homework before deciding on a work at home opportunity. Unless you are looking for a business opportunity like Tupperware or Avon, you should not have to put up any money for a work at home job. Be wary of commission only positions as well. If in doubt, check with your state attorney general's office and the Better Business bureau. These entities are there to protect the consumer so you should make use of them. Neither agency will charge you for your request.

Now that you know a little bit about how to protect yourself from fraud while making money on craogslist.org, remember to always keep these items in mind when dealing with someone you do not know. The idea is to make money, not to lose it. A little common sense will go a long way. So be careful and make sure that you know who you are dealing with and what you are getting into. You can always walk away from a deal. It may be difficult but it is preferable to losing a lot of money.

Self-Publishing: Common Scams to Avoid

Are you an author who has decided to go the self-publishing route? If you have received numerous rejection letters from publishing companies, but you still believe that you have a sellable book, you may be. Self-publishers also like the freedom and control that they have.

As nice as self-publishing is for many authors, it is still important to proceed with caution. Did you know that there are a number of self-publishing scams out there? There are and these are scams that you will want to avoid.

If you are self-publishing a book, you should not be required to sign any contracts. What you will want to do is search for a printing company that will turn your words into a real book. You do not need to sign any contracts or agree to give away your work for this to be done. Often times, all you need to do is agree to pay the already agreed upon fee. If you are sent a contract, chances you are dealing with a vanity publisher, as opposed to a printing company.

Whether you examine vanity publishers or a printing company, be cautious of any recommendations that you receive. For example, if an individual in your travels says “I know of a great designer who can design an amazing cover for your book,” proceed with caution. Of course, the individual or company in question is more than worth the look, but you should know that many companies do not recommend others out of the goodness of their hearts. Many do so because they receive a percentage of each sale made by working as an affiliate.

Even if you make the decision to self-publish a book, there is still a good chance that you will turn to other experts. You may be interested in hiring the services of a professional editor or a designer to make your book cover. When hiring a designer, give them an outline of your book or your expectations, but never hand over your completed work. A designer does not need this. If they ask for it, they may have bad intentions.

As for hiring the services of a professional editor, know who you are working with at all times. Do the proper amount of research first. You can honestly never tell if an editor actually reads your books and make changes. Be leery of anyone who says “everything looks good to me,” and then hands you a bill. It is also important to remember that when you hire an editor, you essentially hand them everything that you have worked on for the past year or months. Make sure you hire a trusted editor who will not run with your work and then later claim it as their own.

In keeping with hiring assistance, one of the downsides to self-publishing is that you, as the author, are responsible for selling your book. This is something that many authors do not have the time and experience to do. That is why outside help is often used. If you do use help, choose a different person. Do not let the same company publish your book and then sell it. This is often a sign of a scam. Instead, hire a marketing specialist who can help you develop and market your own website where your book can be offered for sale. Or, approach local retailers, like your local bookstores, to see if they can carry your book.

Although there are a number of scams associated with self-publishing, it is a great way to get a book published. Just be sure to use your best judgment.

What are the Most Common Ways to Commit Identity Theft or Fraud

It's the number one source of consumer complaints at the Federal Trade Commission (FTC), and unfortunately, it's one of the simplest crimes to commit. Identity theft involves information from your daily life, from shopping, bill-paying, and even applying for a job. Thieves take advantage of everyday opportunities to discover your personal information, including your Social Security number (SSN), bank or credit card account numbers, income, name, address, or phone number, and use it to commit fraud or other crimes.

How can a stranger get to your information? According to the FTC, identity thieves may pose as legitimate representatives of an organization, as business professionals or agents of the government, conning you into revealing sensitive information. Common scams include impersonating employees from banks, credit card companies, Internet service providers, and utility companies. If someone calls you claiming to represent a legitimate organization, confirm this by calling the customer service number listed on your statement or bill.

Thieves may also use your place of employment to get the information they need. A co-worker may steal information from your employer; someone could hack into your company's computer and copy employee records; or a criminal could resort to the old-fashioned method of bribing someone you work with for your information. Check with your employer to find out the company policy on securing your records and disposing of them when you're gone.

If your employer is authorized to pull credit reports on employees or potential customers, someone could take advantage of this access to retrieve illegal reports. Criminals may also pose as employers, landlords, or collection agents to pull your credit information. It's a good idea to order a copy of your credit report once a year to check for unauthorized entries.

Shredding your documents before you throw them away is also good idea, whether at work or at home. Identity thieves have been known to sift through garbage, in the trash can or at the dump, to find sensitive information.

The most common form of identity theft is credit card fraud. Technology has allowed criminals to begin stealing your credit or debit card numbers as you use the cards, "skimming" them with an information storage device. In addition, thousands of drivers' licenses and credit and debit cards are stolen each year. Keeping your Social Security card in a secure location and safeguarding your purse or wallet while at work are necessary precautions.

Even your mail is a source for identity thieves, who may complete credit card applications in your name and go on a spending spree. After stealing your bank or credit card statements, tax information, or box of replacement checks, criminals are able to access your accounts and spend the funds in your name. They may even change the address on your existing account, diverting the bills to keep you from recognizing the problem until it's too late. Being aware of your billing cycles can help you catch a discrepancy in the arrival of your statements.

Identity thieves have a variety of ways to use your information for their personal gain. They may shop for big-ticket items using your credit or bank account information and then sell the items for cash. With your SSN and date of birth, they can open new bank accounts or apply for lines of credit. In fact, banks have granted loans to criminals using stolen identities for purchases as large as cars.

Telephone or internet service can be set up using your SSN. Thieves can avoid impending eviction or accumulated debt by filing bankruptcy in your name. Perhaps the most emotionally traumatic, police could issue a warrant for you if a criminal was arrested using your name and failed to appear at a court hearing.

The ways that identity thieves have conceived to acquire your personal information are numerous, but your vigilance and heightened awareness can curb their ability to make you a victim. And, if you sustain credit damage, go to apscreen.com to find out what you can do about it.