With everything shifting online, cases of cyber crime are more widespread and common than ever before. There are thousands perhaps even millions of scammers and fraudsters, waiting out there for an opportunity to target ingenious web users the moment they exhibit even the slightest of negligence. We suggest you follow this Identity Theft Guide if your online identity has been compromised in any way.

While cyber crime can take many forms, one of the most common is that of identity theft. Simply put, identity theft is the impersonation and deliberate use of an individual's credentials and other valuable information for illegal or unethical activities such as financials scams, frauds, deception and more.

Therefore, for any Internet user in the modern digital age, it has become critical to be extra cautious while just surfing the web or putting up information online. While these are just prerequisites for a safe and secure online experience, some additional precautionary measures can be taken to avoid any inconvenience that may result from identity theft. What are these? Here we list a few.

5 Things To Do To Protect Your Identity Online

Create Strong Passwords

Make it a rule to always create a password that is strong. A secure password typically contains a combination of letters, numbers and special characters. Also, it is advised to create separate passwords for different accounts.

Use HTTPS

Make it a habit of connecting to a website using secure protocol-HTTPS. Doing so encrypts flow of data that may contain valuable information. This practice should always be adopted when using public Wi-Fi services at restaurants, airports, cafés or more.

IRS to fight fraud and identity theft with help from tax-prep firms

Keep A Close Eye Out For Phishing Emails

Phishing emails are fabricated emails that contain links leading to a particular website. These websites may look legitimate but actually are fake pages. These sites typically ask users for information such as passwords, social security numbers, bank accounts, credit card numbers or more. Any information entered here is sent to hackers and scammers who then can use it for their own benefit.

Set Up Login Notifications Through Emails Or SMS

Nowadays, the more official websites allow users to enable login notifications for their accounts. Activating this feature results in automated messages being sent from the host website to the user defined cell phone number via SMS or emails whenever an attempt is made to log in. While this is not a perfect hack prevention solution, it still gives flexibility to quickly take action just in case someone tries to log into one's account.

Take Extra Caution When Posting Information Online

Don't put too much information online, especially on social media accounts. Remember, much of what you post on these websites is open to everyone. So, be smart and avoid giving out more information than necessary.