 TITLE: What Is Identity Theft Insurance? CONTENT: How to Reduce Your Risk of Identity Theft\n-----------------------------------------\nIt's comforting to be protected by an excellent identity theft insurance policy, but reducing the risk of identity theft from occurring in the first place is also something you should do.\n*   **Make sure you use strong passwords.** They should contain at least eight characters, containing a variety of upper and lower case letters, numbers, and special characters. Never incorporate names, birthdates, phone numbers or email addresses, and use a different password for each site.\n*   **Be attuned to phishers.** If you get any form of communication from a bank, utility company, or any other business or individual asking you to update your data by clicking a link or requesting your Social Security number and other personal information, delete the message immediately. Visit the real site, call the official number, and ask if they reached out. If they didn't, inform them of the problem.\n*   **Protect your personal documents.** Have statements sent electronically rather than by hard copy. Lock your mailbox or use a post office box, shred anything that has your private information on it. Invest in a safe deposit box and store all important documents in it.\n*   **Purge your data from all devices before you sell or dispose of them.** Use a wipe utility program that overwrites the entire hard drive. Even if a drive is damaged or doesn't work, the data may still be accessible.\nEven if you're already following those tips, it's a wise idea to check your credit reports often. Read them carefully, looking for anything that seems amiss. Or sign up for free credit monitoring with Experian. You'll obtain notifications about suspicious activity, inquiries and new accounts, plus any changes to your personal information.\nIf you believe that identity theft activity might already have occurred, place a free fraud alert on your credit file. It can help prevent identity theft from open accounts in your name because the fraud alert will notify a creditor that you've been a victim of fraud and ask them to verify your identity before processing an application. A temporary and active-duty fraud alert lasts one year, but if you're already a victim and submit a copy of an identity theft report, you may request an extended fraud victim alert, which lasts for seven years.\nEven if you have identity theft protection and monitoring services, keeping a close watch on your own credit file is a powerful way to remain in charge. You can obtain your free Experian credit report at any time, and it will never impact your credit scores. END