Losing my personal identity frightens me. I have had my bank card scanned and copied at a gas station. Luckily, my bank called me the next day to inform me that someone had attempted to extract a large sum of cash from my bank account. The joke was on them, I don’t keep large balances in my account, so the transaction was rejected 3 times.

Unfortunately, it scared me though, to think that someone had actually tried to use my bank card and steal my hard earned cash from my personal being is a traumatic experience. How do you protect yourself from the thieves ? In some retail outlets the cashiers eyes glaze over when you use cash, they have to stop and run it through a machine to authenticate the paper note. How bazaar, I remember vividly when “cash was king”, nowadays people rarely carry cash, I’m one of them, why bog yourself down fumbling for paper in your pockets, just use a plastic card for all your purchases, seems simple to me.

This, of course, is a huge subject and a sensitive one to cover. Some consumers have had their identity stolen and experienced nightmares with remortgages on their houses, loans for cars, or they are so financially indebted that it’s an up hill battle to prove to the credit bureaus that they did not perform any of these transactions.

Here are a couple of sites to help you if you have experienced lost identity theft. Remember, prevention is the key, always know where your bank cards, credit cards, drivers license, birth certificate, employment records (pay stubs), health insurance card, social insurance number, etc….all your important papers need to be kept in a safe and secure place.