Do you protect yourself against identity theft? A cool risk assessment survey
Identity theft is serious business. According to the Bureau of Justice, U.S. households suffered $13.3 billion in DIRECT financial losses from identity theft in 2010. A few households were lucky to have identity theft with no financial loss. Those that did suffer had an average loss of $2,200. That doesn’t even account for the hassle of the time spent resolving problems.
While you may not be able to prevent identity theft entirely, you can take steps to reduce your risk. Simple things like shredding up personal information and being vigilant can help you avoid being an easy target.
How good are you in protecting yourself? I found an interesting “risk assessment survey” that gives some idea.
Identity theft risk assessment quiz
The survey can be taken over at Rutger’s website. Here is a link to the quiz:
There are just 20 questions, along with a few demographic questions. You need to enter all the demographic information for survey purposes, but there is nothing too specific to worry about them collecting data on you.
The great part about the quiz is the results indicate areas that you can improve. Some of the simple steps you can take are:
–using a shredder for mail with personal information
–being careful about giving out personal information
–having mail in a locked box, or collecting it immediately
I did pretty well, but I was not perfect because I did not always take protective steps.
How well did you do?
