Posted by Maneesh Sethi :: October 22, 2007 @ 9:51 am

Are you afraid that someone behind you is watching you as you type your PIN code at the ATM? Maybe the Man is watching you from afar? Well, the Cranking Widgets blog has a useful tip on how to hide your PIN code from potential miscreants.

The trick in doing so is to simply hit the “clear” button a few times as you type your password into the machine. By hitting “backspace” or “clear” keys, it appears as if you are hitting the 3 key (or the 0, depending on the layout of the number pad). If you do this a few times, you can confuse anyone who is watching you.

With the increase of identity theft throughout America, it is important to take precautions against having your own information used against you. Although this tip is a little severe, and probably mostly for the seriously paranoid, it doesn't hurt to take simple precautions against identity theft.

Mike Smith, in one of his articles here on the Lending Club blog, wrote about cataloging everything in your wallet---if you know what you lost, it's a lot easier to fix your situation. When I most recently lost my wallet, I was on the New York Subway about to board a plane---I had to take a train with no money and board a plane with no ID. Although it was difficult, I knew exactly what was in my wallet, so I was able to cancel all my cards while I was at the airport.

You can also use this technique when you’re at your computer logging into secure wesites, such as when you’re checking on your P2P loan portfolios on Lending Club. Just hit the “backspace” key a few times while you enter in your password and that person standing over your shoulder won’t be able to guess your password.

We here at Lending Club remind you to be careful with your stuff, and be extremely careful with your identity.