It’s 2019, and identity theft continues to be a massive problem. Every year, countless people are taken advantage of through identity theft, costing them vast amounts of time, effort and money trying to resolve the situation. Because of the impact of identity theft, it’s in your best interest to learn how to remove personal information from Google as well as anything else to keep your personal information safe.
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Shred All Of Your Mail
Identity thieves are known to rummage through personal mail – sorting through your household garbage to find to bank statements, bills, credit card information or anything else with personal information on it. You should regularly shred any piece of mail that contains any bit of your personal information.
Q1 hedge fund letters, conference, scoops etc
Remove your Personal Information from Google Search Results
Not enough people are aware about data brokers: the multi-billion dollar industry that knows almost everything about you. Data brokers are corporations that scrape the web for your personal information, and then post it online for the world to see, which can be found by anyone with a simple Google search. Websites like MyLife.com, Spokeo.com and BeenVerified.com have enormous databases containing personal information details about millions of people. Anyone can go online, search for your name and location, and find your current and past addresses, plus information about your family members.
Even less people are aware that you can request that data brokers delete your information. You can complete these opt-out requests yourself, though there are hundreds of data brokers, and many of them make the information removal requests as difficult as possible. Consider using a subscription service like DeleteMe to take your private details off data broker sites and to remove personal information from Google—and keep it removed year-round.
Check Your Credit, Freeze Your Credit
Did you know that you can contact the major credit bureaus, Equifax, Experian, and TransUnion and have them temporarily “freeze” your credit? Freezing your credit means that any attempt to create new lines of credit in your name will be blocked for a specified period of time. This is an easy way to stop ID thieves from opening bank accounts, credit cards or even getting loans in your name. You’ll have to freeze your credit with all three bureaus in order for this to work in full capacity. Plus, you’re entitled to one free credit check a year from each of the bureaus. Take advantage of that by checking your credit once every few months or so to ensure everything is in good standing.
Keep Your SSN Safe with Strong and Unique Passwords
In 2019, generally everyone knows to keep their passwords and social security number (SSN) safe and secure. Your social security number is the single most direct piece of information that an ID thief needs to steal your identity and cause you serious financial harm. Make sure that you use unique passwords for all of your online accounts, especially for your online banking login credentials. Using complex passwords with symbols, numbers, and a change of case is a great way to make your online passwords more difficult to guess. Please, for your sake, don’t use permutations of personal information like family members’ names, birthdays, and so on – these things can be found easily online using a Google search of your name.
Be Sure to Read Your Mail!
Reading your physical mail seems like common sense advice that doesn’t need to be given, but unfortunately, many scammers take advantage of many consumers’ failure to thoroughly read their mail. Keep an eye out for new bills coming and old ones no longer coming. Regularly go over your current bills and statements, looking for charges you don’t recognize and withdrawals you didn’t make. Anything you don’t recognize, changes without explanation, or something that strikes you as odd is worth looking into further. It’s better to find out more about a charge or change and make sure you’re the one who made it than risk losing money by ignoring it.
About DeleteMe
DeleteMe is an industry leader in ensuring online privacy and data security. Based in Boston, MA, DeleteMe has built their reputation in part by leveraging the expertise of their team of specialists and have succeeded in providing over 10 million consumer opt-outs. Their team has decades of collective experience in identity theft, privacy, and consumer security. They can aid in removal from Whitepages, other data broker sites, and Google, as well as payment security and other means to protect your personal and financial security.
Ensure that your personal information remains yours alone, at https://shareasale.com/r.cfm?b=1135916&u=671873&m=64575&urllink=&afftrack=
