Identity Fraud – Save Money – Guard Against It!

The need to be alert and save money has become even more important taking into consideration recent events. This involved the loss of important financial information regarding 9.5m parents and 15.5 children.

This has since been repeated on more than one occasion, which makes this warning even more relevant.

Here are ten tips to help you save money and prevent against identity fraud. Just imagine finding someone else had been dipping their fingers into your bank account without permission?
Read on – This will focus your attention.

1. Always check your bank and credit cared statements and as an additional precaution, change your password if necessary.
2. Never give your personal identification number PIN to anyone else. Avoid using the same PIN on more than one account.
3. Invest in a shredder – these are around £30 and choose one that has a cross cut operation. Shred all your personal documents. You may well find this is one of the best investments you make. This is particularly important when you are moving or in a rush – DON’T BIN IT SHRED IT! Go to Tip No. 3 for a handy tip on maintaining your shredder.
4. Always inform your bank, insurers and other financial institutions of your new address when you move. To possibly save a lot of bother, take a look at www.iammoving.co.uk
5. Invest in a good anti-virus system for your computer. Also protect yourself with a firewall.
6. Remain alert and identify the warning signs of fraud as soon as possible. Often fraudsters will take a small amount from your account to test whether it is working and operational before going in for the kill and removing a large sum. Losses from fraud already mount up to around £1.7bn. per year
7. Ask for a copy of your personal credit file from credit reference agencies such as Experian and Equitas. This will cost you around £2.00 for one sent to you by post to £1 for one sent online immediately. You can also secure a FREE report on some sites.
8. Sign up for a service that will monitor your credit report and notify you if someone applies for credit in your name.
9. Consider insurance to help deal with identity theft. CIFAS. the UK’s fraud protection service offers this, provided on their behalf by Equifax, at a cost of around £11.75
10. Always seek compensation if you are a victim of identity fraud. Under the Banking Code your bank or building society will reimburse any money taken from your account.

If you follow these simple tips you will make it more difficult for any fraudster to help him/herself to your money.

Take a look at our other pages and make sure your money is really safe.

There are so many people who have a legitimate reason for dipping their hands into your bank account, i.e., possible credit card bills to pay, the Government and local Councils taking their taxes, etc. that you need to be extra vigilant.

There are also many other people who would rather live on your hard work and off your back than do a proper job for themselves; you really need to be extra alert in today’s world.

Save Money on Computer Software

This is another area where you can save money.

This section, loosely titled Computer Software covers any item related to the Internet and your office. There will be more to come.

There are many expensive software products for protecting your computer against attack by a virus.

The main drawbacks for most of these are the expense and the fact that a lot of these products slow the computer down to such an extent that you wonder whether you are actually working on Broadband or have slipped back in time to the dial-up service.

just take a look at two products the author has installed on her computer.

1. AVG 7.5 free. This is issued by www.grisoft.com The free version offers Anti-Virus protection and is truly remarkable. Regularly checking your system and installing free updates. Grisoft also have a fee paying service that is also worth investigating.

The next on the list is Spybot to be found at www.safer-networking.org and according to PC World and PCMag.- is the best privacy software available.

2. Another added cost is Broadband and it will pay you to have a look around and sort out a good deal for yourself. Don’t throw your money away.
3. HowIPromoteMyWebsite.com – This is a little gem if you are trying to establish a web site. It’s unusual to find so much practical and genuine advice helping you to promote your own site given away for free online.
4. The next tip is not really a soft-ware tip but is for your Shredder. Once a month, or depending upon usage, drip a few spots of three-in-one oil onto a sheet of paper and pass it through the machine. This will keep the cutter teeth working well.

Save Money and Stay Secure on the Internet.

It is possible to be save money and also be secure on the Internet when you are buying goods. Internet buying has many attractions – the convenience of buying in your own home, avoiding crowded shops and inattentive sales assistants and no parking fees to pay. Just with the click of a mouse you can search whole stores, even when they are ‘closed’.