How to Prevent Identity Theft During the Holiday Shopping Season

The Happy Holiday 2013 Shopping Guide How to SURVIVE THE SEASON with YOUR IDENTITY INTACT YOU SHOULDN'T BE WITHOUT Tis the season... to be exposed to identity theft and the chance to lose your personal information in the wrong places. Don't let an identity thief ruin your holiday spirit. IDENTITY THIEVES ARE MERRIER THIS TIME OF YEAR BECAUSE: Online sales are expected to grow by Holiday spending is expected to increase 13% - 15% THIS HOLIDAY SEASON.? 3.9%' THIS YEAR. THE HOLIDAY SEASON CAN REPRESENT AS MUCH AS 20-40% OF ANNUAL SALES. Copycat websites spoof the brands you trust and Fake websites pretend to sell popular gifts to CREDIT CARD STEAL YOUR CREDIT CARD INFO?. INFECT YOUR COMPUTER WITH MALWARE. 12.6 million CONSUMERS WERE VICTIMS OF IDENTITY THEFT IN 2012.' PURGYASE 47% OF ONLINE SHOPPERS 19% will make purchases will conduct their holiday shopping through their PC's or laptops. through their tablets. BUT THERE ARE WAYS TO KEEP YOUR ONLINE SHOPPING DAYS BRIGHT: O UPDATE THE ANTIVIRUS PROTECTION on your PC and mobile devices. DOUBLE-CHECK THE WEBSITE you're on to make sure it's legit and secure. PROTECT YOUR ONLINE PASSWORDS AND PIN from wandering eyes. ONLY PURCHASE GIFT CARDS FROM SOURCES YOU TRUST, not emails or social sites. EO DON'T FALL FOR DEALS that sound too good to be true. O LEAVE THE PURSE AT HOME and just carry your driver's license and two credit cards at most. O PASSWORD PROTECT YOUR DEVICES with a hard to guess password or PIN. Holiday Wrap-Up Roview your credit at annualcreditreport.com, and verify transactions on your credit statements. Consider investing in monitoring services like Identity Guard". Sources Nana RudFod n-20 C n n avy Shpg2 H F IDENTITY GUARD.