If you have not yet suffered from online identity theft in some or other form, you are lucky because nearly 70 million online identity thefts happen in the world each year. This means it is important to protect personal information on the internet, because online identity theft is an extremely common occurrence that most people experience at some point in their lives

In every privacy guideline it is mentioned that every user must protect personal information such as credit card numbers and Social Security Number, but are these the only pieces of information at risk? Not really, because personal information such as your name, your maiden name, date of birth, address, phone number and email address are equally sensitive and needs proper protection. The list below shows you the most sought out ways to protect personal information online.

• Monitor Your Credit Regularly

The fastest and the best way to detect and protect if your identity has been stolen or you are at risk is to check your credit and debit card statement. Also, make sure to change your password frequently if you use internet banking for online transactions

• Protect Your Virtual Identity

Social networking sites such as Facebook, Twitter and YouTube are the best source for getting any and every kind of personal private information of the users which is increasing the risk of identity theft dramatically. Check your privacy settings and keep your virtual identity safe online by protecting information like your address, full name, phone numbers and photos.

• Guard your Social Security card

Your Social Security number is the entryway to your identity. Do not carry it in your wallet. Also, check to see if your Social Security Number is printed on any other cards you usually carry with you.

• Practice safe online habits

Social networking sites often include external links or applications that request the user to access their personal information. Use caution when revealing any information on such links sent from unwelcome emails. Keep firewalls, anti-virus software and anti-spyware up to date on your computer.

• Use an online identity theft protection service

An online identity theft protection service monitors, alerts and helps web users in managing their online reputation by protecting personal private information on the web. It detects misuse of your identity, enable browser privacy using easy to install plug-ins and cookie removal tools, stops unwanted catalog and mail spam and more.