Do You Know How to Protect Your Identity?

So much about being a teen is figuring out who you are, what makes you tick…what your identity is all about. And while these things can’t be taken from you, identity theft is a very real phenomenon that is most recently targeting teens.

What exactly is identity theft, anyway?

According to the Identity Theft Resource Center, identity theft is “when a criminal (or unauthorized person) uses your information to start new credit accounts, commit crimes in your name, get loans and even perhaps a job.”

A recent study by the Federal Trade Commission found that more than 20,000 kids and teens were the victim of identity theft in 2008.

But how exactly can your identity be stolen? Perhaps the most common way is for the wrong people to get a hold of your social security number, either by taking it from your wallet (note: Social Security cards should never be carried with you… always keep them in a safe place) or by infiltrating the security of one of the many places your number is on file (like the doctor’s office, insurance company, etc.). Teens are also especially vulnerable online, where sometimes they’ll provide too much info on blogs, multiplayer online games, and other peer-to-peer software.

The biggest concern regarding teens as victims of identity theft is that it can go on for years and only come to light once a teen is ready to apply for a job or a student loan. And then there’s a huge mess to clean up.

There are lots of ways to protect yourself from identity theft, including:

• don’t store sensitive information on a computer you use for file sharing
• don’t make your full name public when posting comments on a blog
• don’t give your highly personal information to anyone, even friends (including credit cards, bank cards, driver’s licenses, video rental cards, and even library cards)

To take a quiz and find out how savvy you are at protecting your identity, as well as learn some more identity theft prevention tips, visit the Identity Theft Resource Center here!