Avoid Senior Identity Theft

This advice really relates to everyone, not simple seniors. However it's a sad fact that seniors are targeted much more by fraudsters than any other age group. So it's extra important that older people understand what needs to be done in relation to protecting their identity. These tips are pretty simple really and everyone should be able to follow them.

Check Your Credit Reports

First of all, what you need to do is contact the three main credit rating agencies Equifax, Experian and Transunion. You should be requesting a copy of your credit report from each of the companies and when you receive your copy, you need to then go through it with a fine tooth comb for anything that don't look right to you. For instance, if it shows that you took out a loan or applied for a bank account when you know that you did neither of these things then you have a potential problem.

Now, this isn't to say that you have necessarily been a victim of identity theft/fraud. It could simply be an innocent mistake. Often if people have the same name their details can be mixed up. It's just a matter of contacting the agencies to tell them about these errors.

Stop Marketers Contacting You

Another thing that you will want to consider doing is taking your personal details off any marketing database as this will reduce the potential for the database to be hacked into. This can be done by contacting the Direct Marketing Association.

There is another service which young and old alike should look into and that's the Do Not Call Registry. Basically if you add your telephone number from the list you won't receive any telemarketing calls again. It can take about a month for the service to begin working, however now and again you might still receive a call or two. When this happens, simply say that you are on the Do Not Call list and then hang up. You might think that this is rude but at the end of the day, you are saving the caller from wasted time by chatting to them any longer.

It can be difficult for the elderly to try and adapt to this fast moving world. Also, elderly people don't have the concentration that they perhaps had when they were younger. This is why it's so important to spread this information so that we can all do something to fight senior fraud..