7 New Identity Theft Scams You Need To Know

1. Watch Your Back When you're in line to pay at a supermarket or a department store, make sure the person behind you is not using his cell phone to snap a photo of your credit card as your using it. 2. Check Your Check Book & Credit Card Balances Once A Week  Identity thieves can do a lot of damage in the 30 days between statements. 3. When Bills Are Late You should be concerned since they might have been stolen.  4. Watch Your Garbage Identity thieves fill their trunks with garbage and sort it out later. Make sure you shred all sensitive documents like old paid bills, checking account deposit slips, job or loan applications, credit card checks and offers for new cards before you throw them out. 5 Watch Your ATM If you see something that doesn't look like it belongs on an ATM, walk away. It might be a skimmer to capture your pin number. 6. Don't Sign The Back Of Your Credit Cards Instead, print these words on the signature strip: "ASK FOR PHOTO ID". 7. Never Use A Credit Card To Pay A Utility Bill ID thieves will call your utility company and say: "I thought I paid this bill, but I can't remember. Did I use my Visa or Mastercard? Can you read me back the number?" You'd be surprised what utility workers will reveal to strangers posing as you.