How to NOT Get Your Identity Stolen When Shopping For Car Insurance Quotes Online

There are thousands of people out there living every day with the fear that they're going to have their identity stolen at some point in their life. And they're not just the "paranoid wackos" or "conspiracy theorists" the media loves to hate. Almost 10 million people had their identity stolen in 2008. Although only 11% of these thefts were done using the Internet that 11% is enough to have people wondering if they dare shop for car insurance quotes online or if they're just setting themselves up to have their identity stolen too.

The good news is, most of today's identity thieves are relatively low tech. 43% of all identity thefts were the result of lost or stolen credit cards and IDs, not happily hacked Internet info. That means when you're shopping for car insurance quotes online you're more protected from identity theft than you would be walking down a New York City street. That doesn't mean it doesn't pay to be careful though. After all, it's not paranoia if they're really out to get you!

When you're shopping for car insurance quotes online it's important to check the security settings of the website address. Those letters stand for hypertext transfer protocol, and it's used to bring together interlocking sources. There's more to it than that, but you'd have to ask a computer expert if you really want to know! What you want to focus on is the prefix of any site that asks you to give out your social security number. Those sites should say https rather than http.

What's the difference? A car insurance provider that uses an https site to obtain your personal information has already taken extra steps to insure your privacy. Https stands for hypertext transfer protocol secure and is a combination of the http and extra cryptography to protect your personal information from prying eyes when you're out on the web. Believe it or not, car insurance companies really do have your best interests at heart when they're helping you shop for car insurance quotes online.

If you're still not secure using an https:// site to enter your personal information, don't. Period. Yes, it's nice for your insurance agent to have ready access to your social security number (SSN) so they can double check your driving record and give you an accurate quote, but they can give you a ballpark figure without it. Your driving history isn't the only thing that goes into determining your car insurance rates. Companies are also going to take into account:

a) Your zip code.

b) Your city's crime rates.

c) The volume of traffic in your area.

d) The amount of time you spend on the road.

e) What your job is.

f) How long your commute is.

g) Where your commute is.

h) What you're driving.

i) How much insurance you need.

j) How high you want to put your deductibles.

The list goes on and on, but you get the idea. There are a lot of things that go into making up your car insurance rates, not just your driving history, which means that any company can give you a good estimate based on the information listed above without ever having to ask you for your SSN.

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Posted in: Identity,Insurance,Online,Quotes,Shopping,Stolen