For those of you who think your personal information is safe, our colleagues in New York teamed up with NBC News to show just how easy it is to exploit our identities.  Watch the video here:

http://video.msnbc.msn.com/dateline/51320223

Every day we use many of the same tools and techniques featured in the news report to perform background checks, due diligence investigations, skip traces and other services for businesses, law firms and insurers.    It is because so many people are careless with their information, or worse, think others are so interested in their lives they purposefully post it, that we can empower employers and litigants with this information.

So you don’t become a victim, here are some Internet practice points:  Lock down your Facebook page, create anonymous email addresses to post comments on articles/news stories, use fictitious screen names for use on Pinterest, Spotify, Instagram, and other social media sites so the information cannot be linked back to you—your followers don’t care what your real name is (and you can always tell your friends how to find you), if you use a dating website, use sites that are not open to the public (i.e. non-members should not be able to view your page), sign up for credit monitoring (TransUnion, Experian, Equifax all offer the service at competitive prices), and always keep your birth date off the web.