With the presidential election season in high gear, it is not surprising that identity thieves and scam artists are taking advantage of this to scam people out of their money.  One of the more common identity theft schemes involves a call from your city or town clerk verifying your registration as a voter.  In order to do this, you are told that you need to provide your Social Security number.  Once you have done this, you have handed the identity theft all he or she needs to steal your identity and obtain credit in your name.

TIPS

Never give your Social Security number to anyone whom you have not called and does not absolutely need it.  Your city or town clerk will never call you to confirm your Social Security number for purposes of verifying your voter registration.  If you have a question about your voter registration, contact directly your city or town clerk at a telephone number that you know is correct.  You also may wish to put a credit freeze, which is described elsewhere in this website/blog on your credit report to prevent access to your credit report and your credit even if someone is able to get your Social Security number.