10 ways college students can fight ID theft

As we all know, identity theft is no game, especially when you’re putting yourself through college and starting your adult life. In college, you might want to apply for a loan or sign the lease on your first apartment, but what if someone has stolen your identity and you’re denied?

Some of the most common things can help prevent your identity from being stolen in the midst of all that overwhelming college life. Such things include buying a shredder. This can be useful when you have documents that contain personal information like your name, phone number, credit card information, etc. are no longer being used, you can shred them so that no one else gets ahold of that information. If you have those such documents that you need to keep, always be safe and keep it in a lockbox rather than just storing it in a folder on your desk, be safe and keep your information secured. Among these personal documents should include your social security card. Karen Goff at Georgian Court University says, ““Don’t walk around campus with your Social Security card. If you lose your wallet, you’ve lost critical information that can unlock all sorts of information about you personally.”

Another way to keep your identity safe is to make sure you have a strong password for your online accounts, especially those including banking. Once you’ve gotten your password, never share it with anyone else, no matter how close you are; your password is your password and you should never let it get in the hands of anyone else.

This next tip is simple, but a life saver: lock your dorm room/apartment to prevent break ins or any other such crime. Just as you lock your door, also lock your electronic devices (if applicable) like your smartphone or tablet so that no one else can enter them and gain your personal information. Speaking of electronics, the internet is a wonderful place, but it’s important to stay safe by following these simple rules:

Last but not least, remember to regularly check your credit card and bank statements and never share your credit and/or debit card. These two rules can save you a lot of trouble and if you add them to the nine other rules, you’re doing yourself one huge favor in preventing identity theft.