‘at the ATM’
courtesy of ‘volcanojw’

It’s easy to think of identity theft and credit card fraud happening to other people– people who aren’t observant in the ATMs that they use, or people who are careless with their PIN numbers, for example– but trust me, it can happen to anyone.  This past weekend I returned from a wonderful week-long trip to Italy that was completely relaxing and perfect.  But on Sunday, I opened up my checking account online and saw that my entire account had been cleared out while I was gone.  I’ve become a victim of identity theft, and I’m here to tell you how to avoid it.  Skimming has been spotted in DC, as well as waiter-based theft, and since we live in a tourist-heavy city, we could all use a refresher on how to keep our financial information secure. Continue reading →