It is now well known that as it has been mentioned plenty of times before that more than 11 million Americans each year become victims of identity theft. But what is not well known is that very often this crime occurs at the beginning of the year: in January.Media attention is usually focused on cyber crime, which is also serious, but consumers have to bear in mind that identity thieves are still taking advantage of one of the oldest ways to hijack your identity: stealing from your mailbox.In fact, due to the extensive use of the mail to commit both identity theft and credit fraud, one of the leading agencies in looking into these crimes is the Postal Inspection Service.
You are probably wondering why the month of January is so dangerous. The answer is really quite simple: because it is the month that employers, banks and credit card companies choose to mail out all of their year-end documents, including W-2s, 1099 forms, credit card summaries, and brokerage statements. In addition, on any given day, there are more than one million credit cards in the mail stream, part of the 700 million pieces of mail delivered daily.
Security advisers and mail employers are not short in emphasizing that it is vital for people to acknowledge that there are ?walkers? that follow mail carriers and look through other people?s mail for any interesting piece of mail they can find. They even know that the best time to commit their deeds is between 9 am and 3 pm. There are others that have adopted nocturnal habits and opt for checking mailboxes under the light of the moon. They know that many people don?t check their mailboxes every day. And they know that unattended mailboxes can contain juicy information. In addition, some thieves go so far as to open the envelopes, copy the documents, reseal the mail and place it in the mailbox again a day later.
KEEP YOURSELF ON THE SAFE SIDE The Identity Theft Resource Center (ITRC) recommends following these instructions in order to avoid falling a victim of identity theft:
Source: http://www.amsfj.com/january-a-crucial-month-for-identity-theft/
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