Listen Money Matters - Free Your Inner Financial Badass. All The Stuff You Should Know About Personal Finance.

Identity theft can wreck your life and your credit.  Security expert Robert Siciliano joins us to discuss how to protect sensitive information. There are two main types of financial identity theft:  new account fraud and account take over. New account fraud is when someone gets your social security number and starts opening new lines of credit in your name, credit cards, even car loans.  You start getting calls from collection agencies wanting their money. Account takeover is the most common form of ID theft.  This is when someone hacks your bank account or gets your credit card number. New account fraud is easier to prevent.  Making sure your devices are protected from spyware and being careful where you give out personal information will go a long way in preventing it. Account takeover is harder to avoid.  Every time you hand over your credit card to pay for something, it can be stolen.  The best thing to do is to monitor your bank and credit card statements for unauthorized transactions. There are ne