Being a victim of identity theft poses serious risks to our lives. One of the reasons why we become a victim of identity theft is because we lost an important identification card, and it came into the hands of the wrong people.

When our identities are stolen, we can be framed up for something that we never did, or our own accounts might be compromised, especially when it comes to our financial accounts.

In the digital age, identity theft has become so common in social media and the Internet. People are constantly complaining about their photos and names being associated with a different profile, posting something that could cost them their relationship with other people or their career.

One should never become a victim of identity theft, and there are things that we should watch out for if we suspect that our identities are being used for illegal transactions.

One of the most common clues that will lead us to believe that our identity is stolen is when there are unauthorized withdrawals from our bank accounts. We then ask the question “am I a victim of identity theft?”

The only way to find out is to work with our banks so that they can provide us with a clue about what is really happening with our accounts. These withdrawals that could not be explained will be traced down to find out information like where the transaction was completed and how much money was withdrawn.

With proper investigation and the partnership with the police, one could successfully track down the person that is using a fake identity to steal money from your bank account.

People who constantly ask themselves questions like “am I a victim of identity theft?” should also notice the red flag when they stop receiving mail or bills.

These identity thieves will most likely change your address in the system belonging to companies or government agencies. They will retain your name, though, because it will be used for another purpose.

This is the reason why people are encouraged to visit their post office or any other government agency and check if there are any changes performed on their profile.

You can find out changes in your profile if you will be requesting it from the company or the government agency, and from that information, you will be able to find out if your account is stolen.

You would also be surprised finding out that debt collectors are calling your phone numbers. When it happens, identity thieves must have used your information when getting a loan or debt.

That way, they can clearly escape their liabilities while putting someone in despair. Properly inform these parties that you are not the person that they are looking for, and if they keep on calling back, you can work with the police to see what they can do.

There is also an embarrassing point when restaurants and other establishments stop accepting your card because of a false identification that the thieves have posted. This is should be a reason for a red flag, and work with the experts to help you find the identity thieves.

There are ways to prevent you from becoming a victim of identity theft. The first thing that you should do is to be more wary about the information you provide.

This is a common issue especially in social media, wherein people are clicking links that bring them to somewhere, and when prompted to put their information, they would readily provide it. Be cautious when visiting these websites because they are only after your information.

Make sure that you verify all of the websites that you are working with before you supply them with sensitive information. When eating outside, or paying for your merchandise, it is much better to pay in cash.

Sometimes, there are syndicates who work together to copy the information on a card, and the data stored on the device can be used to make an exact copy of your cards that will be used for unauthorized payments.

You should do your best to check to see if your information has been compromised by using a digital security scanner to see if you’ve been a part of a data breach.

If you ask yourself the question “am I a victim of identity theft?”, be sure to work with a reliable firm that provides identity theft protection services.

These third-party companies will do their best to protect your identity from being stolen, and they also have a huge network of contacts that they can call whenever one of their client’s identity is being compromised.

In this day and age, it is important to keep our identities as a sensitive form of information and let us avoid handing it to the people that we don’t really know.