Avoiding Identity Theft

Avoiding Identity Theft Is Exercise In Common Sense

If you had a hundred thousand dollars in cash, chances are you would never leave it unattended on a table in a strange restaurant or on a department store counter. Yet that is essentially what a person with good credit is doing if they leave behind their credit card slips. There are some simple things people can do in avoiding identity theft, and most of them are just taking a common sense approach to protecting your information.

While a large focus on identity theft revolves around the use of the internet, the telephone is still a common method used for identity theft crimes. One of the ways in avoiding identity theft is to never give out personal information over the telephone regardless of the threatened ramifications for refusing. For example, if someone claims to be from you bank calls and reports they are investigating potential identity theft of your account information, they may tell you they are just verifying the information.

Most scams will ask you to give them social security numbers and other information, 'just for verification' but common sense tells you they already have it. Having them give you the information and you will tell them if it is accurate is one way of avoiding identity theft, but usually just hanging up and calling the bank's listed phone number will reveal it was a scam attempt at theft.

Keep Information Hidden From Potential Thieves

Any requests for information from financial institutions with which you do business will never ask for account names or other information. When you receive an email asking you to log onto the bank's secure server through the included link, forward the email to the bank's fraud reporting email. The best methods of avoiding identity theft is never send important information over the internet since there is no guarantee of the recipient being who they claim to be.

Your identity can be used to get financing for cars, houses and credit cards as well as to make arrangements for a variety of costly items. If you consider the potential for financial loss, avoiding identity theft can become just as important as protecting your wallet and checkbook.

One of the best ways for avoiding identity theft is to take the approach that you never give information to someone you do not know, and never over the telephone or through an unsecured internet address. Learning about the many scams going around on the internet, on the telephone and some even in person, avoiding identity theft is possible.

Citibank And Identity Theft

Citibank And Identity Theft Measures Available

Identity theft is crime in which one person has fraudulently obtained another individual’s personal information with the intent to steal from that victim. The information that can be obtained to allow access to another's various personal and financial accounts. Such information can be Social Security numbers, birthdates, address information, etc. Often, with this information, identity thieves can open new credit card accounts, access the victim's personal banking account, apply for a loan, etc.

Because of the escalation of identity theft, many financial institutions are taking increased security measures as well as providing various preventative services to their customers. One of these financial institutions is Citibank.

The relationship between Citibank and identity theft and the seriousness of this crime can be demonstrated through the measures that have been implemented. In addition, the customer services that are offered by Citibank and identity theft measures that they provide reflect the commitment they have to protect their customers from being victims of identity theft.

Citibank and Identity Theft Measures Offered

The options for the customers of Citibank and identity theft measures that are made available demonstrate the commitment that Citibank has towards its customers. One of those measures is for the customer to be the recipient of banking statements that can be viewed on line by accessing the Citibank web site.

The major benefit of this service provided by Citibank and identity theft measures that are provided is that the customer can opt out of receiving their bank statement via the U.S. mail. This minimizes the possibilities of personal banking information falling into the hands of those who take mail from individual mail boxes.

Another identity theft measure that is provided by Citibank is in relationship to their credit card department. Those within the credit card department monitor activity and have in place an early fraud warning mechanism. This means that if Citibank personnel detect any unusual activity they will immediately endeavor to contact the credit card holder to insure that the activity demonstrated is authorized.

Additional Citibank And Identity Theft Measures

There are many other options available to customers of Citibank and identity theft measures that are provided which prevent others from accessing their customer’s accounts fraudulently. One of those measures is when a new credit card or reissuing of a credit card is conducted. The identity theft measure that Citibank has put into practice is that when such a card is issued the account is blocked. This action prevents any unauthorized use of the account until it has been properly activated by the owner. This activation process requires the cardholder to dial the number on the card from the home phone number that has been established for that account holder. Once the phone number has been identified as the authorized home number the card is activated for use.

In addition, another Citibank and identity theft measure service is the provision of a specific E-mail address that addresses any possible fraudulent E-mail correspondence from Citibank. For example if a customer receives an E-mail from Citibank, the customer in turn can E-mail the specific E-mail address set up to ascertain whether the E-mail correspondence from Citibank is legitimate or not. This service helps to minimize the often used scam from identity thieves who try to trick Citibank customers in providing personal identification numbers or bank account numbers.