11 ways thieves steal your identity

In line at the grocery store, some thieves hold their smartphone like they are looking at the screen and take a photograph of your credit card as you’re using it. Next thing you know they can order things online with your account. Take a glimpse inside the scammers’ net to uncover the main ways thieves try to access your money – and how to protect yourself.

Check your bank and credit card balances at least once a week. Identity thieves can do a lot of damage in the 30 days between monthly statements. Here are 9 ways your computer password can get you hacked.

If you see something that looks like it doesn’t belong on the ATM or sticks out from the card slot, walk away. Thieves can make and install a ‘skimmer’ that can be used to capture your ATM card information and PIN.

Thieves can steal your account numbers from banking letters sent in themail, use the convenience checks that come with your credit card statement, and send in pre-approved credit offers to get a card in your name. Stealing mail is considered easy. Sometimes, thieves act like they are delivering flyers. Other times, they just stand there and riffle through it. A lot believe if they don’t look suspicious, the neighbours will just think they are a friend picking up your mail. Follow these fraud prevention tips to stay safe.

Sure, it may be nice not to have to put in your password when you use an unsecured Wi-Fi connection, but thieves have software that can scoop up all the data your computer transmits, including your passwords and other sensitive information. This is what you should do if your data has been hacked.

Thieves will drive through your neighbourhood at 3 a.m. on garbage day in order to fill thier boot with bags of garbage from different houses, and then sort through it later looking for importate information. Here are 8 revealing everyday documents you didn’t know you should shred.

In Europe, all credit cards have an embedded chip and require a PIN, which makes them a lot harder to hack. Thieves say they can duplicate the magnetic stripe technology that appears on a credit card with a $50 machine. Don’t fall victim to these online shopping scams – here’s what to look for.

If you use the same ATM every time, you’re a lot more likely to notice if something changes on the machine, like the skimmer thieves can install.

Thieves can buy stolen account information such as your name, address, credit card number, and more, for between $10 to $50 per account from hackers who advertise on more than a dozen black market websites. Here are 17 things cyber crooks don’t want you to know.

Don’t write your PIN number on a little slip of paper and store it in your wallet. Here are 7 things you should do asap if your wallet is lost or stolen.