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Identity
Theft Protection and Security While Offline
Click
HERE for our Online Security Page
- Don't
give out financial or personal
information online or on the phone
unless you initiated the contact and/or
recognize the party with whom you're
speaking.
- Do
not use your social security number for
ID purposes. With a few
exceptions, such as when applying for a
driver's license or a mortgage loan, you
are not obligated to provide your social
security number and it should never
be printed on any ID card or
license. Do not carry your card
with you in your wallet.
- Verify
that every company you deal with is
concerned with security. Inquire as
to the measures they take to protect
your information and satisfy yourself
that these measures are "state of
the art" and that your privacy is
taken seriously by the organization.
- Safeguard
ATM, credit and debit cards and blank
checks
- Only
carry cards you use.
- Report
lost or stolen cards or checks
immediately.
- Memorize
personal identification numbers (PINs)
and passwords. Never write them
on access cards or store them where
they can easily be found, such as in
wallets, purses, and desks or on
computers.
- Keep
a record of all accounts and cards,
and the emergency number to call if
the information has been
compromised, in a secure location
such as a safe-deposit box or a
special computer program that
scrambles the information to protect
it.
- Maintain
what you must to comply with the law,
but destroy unnecessary financial
documents
- Use
a crosscut shredder
- Documents
to destroy includes old bank
statements, credit card bills, invoices and unwanted
pre-approved credit and other
financial offers.
- Protect
your incoming mail
- Promptly
retrieve your mail.
- Consider
getting a Post Office box or locking
mailbox.
- Don't
put outgoing mail in an unlocked
residential mailbox, where thieves
could get your personal and
financial information.
- If
regular bills or statements stop
reaching you, take action. Call the
company's customer service number.
Someone may have filed a
change-of-address form to divert your
mail.
- Review
account statements promptly and credit
card receipts with their statements.
Don't ignore suspicious charges. If
doubtful or unauthorized charges appear
on your bills or statements, call
immediately to resolve the discrepancy.
- Protect
your confidential information.
- Never
preprint your driver's license or
Social Security number on your
checks.
- Remove
your Social Security number from
your driver’s license.
- Refuse,
in most instances, to allow your
Social Security number to be used
for identification purposes.
- Beware
of incoming phone calls from
“imposters” that ask you to
disclose information by pretending to be
fraud investigators or customer service
agents calling with an urgent problem
about your account.
- One
fraud involves imposters asking only
for the three-digit code on the back
of your credit card to “verify”
possession. This may indicate that
the imposter already has the balance
of your account information!
- When
in doubt as to a caller’s
identity, always ask to call back at
what you know to be a valid customer
service number.
- Review
your credit report periodically. The
Fair Credit Reporting Act (FCRA)
requires each of the nationwide consumer
reporting companies—Equifax, Experian,
and TransUnion—to provide you with a
free copy of your credit report, at your
request, once every 12 months. The three
nationwide consumer reporting companies
have set up a central website and a
toll-free telephone number through which
you can order your free annual report.
To order, go to annualcreditreport.com
or call 1-877-322-8228. The individual
bureaus have requested you do not
contact them directly as they will not
be able to process your request.
- Consider
other credit card, and credit bureau,
actions you can take:
- File
a Fraud Alert, if appropriate
- Ask
that your information not be made
available for "pre-screened
offers"
- Ask
that no changes to your account be
allowed unless authorized by
you.
- Do
what is necessary to ensure that
your credit bureau records are
accurate
- Try
to avoid co-signing for credit cards
and, if you do, take every possible
action to protect your own
confidential information.
- Do
not lend out your credit card
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If you suspect
that an identity theft crime has been committed against you, you may
want to consider contacting
your Country or
(US) state's Attorney General's
Office. You can read
here about filing a Fraud Alert and ID Theft Affidavit with the
three major credit repositories.
7-15-2006 |
