Q and A with Denisa - Financial Identity :: Certified Financial Planner : Colorado Springs, CO

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Q and A with Denisa - Financial Identity

12. Financial Identity

You are looking over your credit card statement and you suddenly spot a few charges with a really weird description. You realize that you did not authorize these. So who has??

According to FTC over 9 million Americans become victims of identity theft each year!

With the increasing social networking and blogging, you are leaving your identify footprint in a cyberspace.

Here are a few tips to keep your financial info safe:

Talk to your kids about online safety and identify theft in general!
Make sure your user name doesn’t provide clues to your "identity".
Create a strong password and change it often.
Don’t access your online financial accounts on public computers or your own computer through the public wireless network
Don’t click on any pop ups asking for your financial info.
For online purchases, pay only through a secure site and use one designated credit card with a low balance.

The bottom line is that nothing is bulletproof so act online as if you were transacting in public. And if you do become a victim of an identity theft, notify your financial institutions, and file a complaint with the FTC, the BBB and your police department.

Last week we talked about protecting your financial identity. Continuing on the same topic to answer a question from one of our viewers.

Beth emailed me asking if identity theft insurance was a good idea or just a waste of money.

Before you spend the money on this insurance, let’s look at what it does and what it doesn’t do.

First, identity theft insurance does NOT cover any monetary losses. If someone runs up your credit card bill, it will not cover this loss. It will help you pay some fees associated with recovering this money.

Many IT policies have a deductible, so you will have to spend money out of your pocket first before this coverage even kick in.

Some credit card companies and financial institutions offer IT insurance for free, so check them out first.

The bottom line is this. IT insurance does not guarantee that your identity will not get stolen.

SO a better option may be for you to be proactive and check your credit report 1-2 per year. You can also place free fraud alerts on your credit reports. Certain procedures will have to be followed before any new accounts can be open in your name.