DENVER, Colo. - This is the busiest time of year not only for retailers, but also for identity thieves.
The main thing to remember is to guard your personal information both at the stores, and online. As many of us are distracted while on our missions to buy, buy, buy, identity thieves are also on a mission to profit from our distraction.
In the ten days leading up to Christmas, these crooks will steal roughly 250,000 identities.
"With people being as generous as they are this time of year with people doing as many transactions both online and in a store people really need to watch out for identity theft, especially this time of year unfortunately," said Justin Yurek of Denver-based idwatchdog.com.
Yurek's group says there are some common sense ways to protect yourself. First, stay alert and protect your card and pin numbers at ATMs.
"Probably it's better to do most of your transactions with your credit card as opposed to your debit card," said Yurek.
Credit cards have built in anti-fraud protection, but debit cards usually don't, making it harder to have fraudulent charges removed. Stick with one card so you're only dealing with one company if something goes wrong.
Watch for credit card skimmers on machines which allow thieves to copy all your card information. Also, pay careful attention to your card charges and withdrawals, especially when shopping with smaller or lesser-known businesses.
"Especially with the economy, we're all looking for a deal. But it's not worth it to go those unknown entities to get a slightly cheaper price, you're paying for a little bit of security as well when you go to a shop with bigger stores," said Yurek.
Besides anti-virus software, online shopping is safer using only known URL addresses, not links.
"Over 50% of passwords out there can be cracked within a day of people just thinking about it. So the more complicated and safe you can keep your passwords, the safer you'll be online as well," said Yurek.
Yurek also recommends shredding receipts as soon as possible.
A recent trend of fake charities is expected to worsen around the holidays, so know who you're giving to.
Last year, it was estimated there were more than 10 million victims of identity theft, an increase of 22 percent over the year beforeĀ and that's just the people who filed complaints, making it still one of the fastest growing crimes out there.
The main thing to remember is to guard your personal information both at the stores, and online. As many of us are distracted while on our missions to buy, buy, buy, identity thieves are also on a mission to profit from our distraction.
In the ten days leading up to Christmas, these crooks will steal roughly 250,000 identities.
"With people being as generous as they are this time of year with people doing as many transactions both online and in a store people really need to watch out for identity theft, especially this time of year unfortunately," said Justin Yurek of Denver-based idwatchdog.com.
Yurek's group says there are some common sense ways to protect yourself. First, stay alert and protect your card and pin numbers at ATMs.
"Probably it's better to do most of your transactions with your credit card as opposed to your debit card," said Yurek.
Credit cards have built in anti-fraud protection, but debit cards usually don't, making it harder to have fraudulent charges removed. Stick with one card so you're only dealing with one company if something goes wrong.
Watch for credit card skimmers on machines which allow thieves to copy all your card information. Also, pay careful attention to your card charges and withdrawals, especially when shopping with smaller or lesser-known businesses.
"Especially with the economy, we're all looking for a deal. But it's not worth it to go those unknown entities to get a slightly cheaper price, you're paying for a little bit of security as well when you go to a shop with bigger stores," said Yurek.
Besides anti-virus software, online shopping is safer using only known URL addresses, not links.
"Over 50% of passwords out there can be cracked within a day of people just thinking about it. So the more complicated and safe you can keep your passwords, the safer you'll be online as well," said Yurek.
Yurek also recommends shredding receipts as soon as possible.
A recent trend of fake charities is expected to worsen around the holidays, so know who you're giving to.
Last year, it was estimated there were more than 10 million victims of identity theft, an increase of 22 percent over the year beforeĀ and that's just the people who filed complaints, making it still one of the fastest growing crimes out there.
