Thrifty Thinking: Protecting Your Identity Week

Many people nowadays own a smartphone or tablet. These devices are convenient, but they also offer thieves another opportunity. There is a way to protect our families and the technology they use every day.  The National Foundation for Credit Counseling (NFCC) wants you to fight identity theft by taking part in the 5th Annual Protect Your Identity Week, October 20-27.

 

There are many ways to become a victim of identity theft, and a special emphasis is being made on ways to responsibly use your mobile device this October. As smartphones become a more popular means of keeping up with the world, users increase their risk of being targeted by identity thieves and hackers. In fact, 7% of smartphone owners were victims of identity fraud last year­­­­- a higher incidence rate than in non-smartphone owners.

 

If you want more information on how you can keep your family protected, here are a few of the ways to get involved with Protect Your Identity Week (PYIW) this year:

 

- NFCC Member Agencies and supporting Coalition Members will offer free identity theft education and protection events in communities across the country October 20-27, including workshops, cell phone recycling, and on-the-spot document shredding. To find an event near you, check out this event map!
 
-  The first ever PYIW Twitter Chat will take place on October 16 at 8:00 PM ET. The NFCC will be joined by 3 knowledgeable female experts who will be available to answer all your questions about ID theft. These experts include personal finance expert, nationally acclaimed author and frequent financial contributor to Yahoo! Finance, MoneyWatch, and The Today Show: Farnoosh Torabi; 2012 Customer Service Leader of the Year and VP of Customer Services/ Chief Investigator at ID and fraud protection service AllClear ID:  Jamie May; and VP and Chief Privacy Officer at McAfee who is also the editor in chief of TheIdentityProject.com— a new media site that was started as an advocacy and education site, currently focused on the growing crime of Child ID theft: Michelle Dennedy. All will be tweeting from the hashtag #PYIW and will offer ways to protect yourself from ID theft, what to do if you’re a victim, and smart steps to take when using your phone to conduct business transactions. I hope you can join us as participants will be eligible to win prizes such as a shredder and an AllClear ID PRO plan for a year!
 
-   Visit the Protect Your ID Now website for smart cell phone tips, ID theft resources and a self-assessment ID Quiz to determine your own personal risk of identity theft.