Tips To Protect Yourself From Identity Theft

Identity theft is often in the news and in many of the cases we hear about the person targeted is at a loss for how personal information fell into the wrong hands. Now, more than 20% of all cases involve the phone, faxes, e-mails and computer hacking. The best way to protect yourself from these scams is to never give out personal information to someone who calls you or in response to an e-mail you have received. A legitimate business will never call or e-mail you and request personal information. If you do business with the company they have your information already.
The experts recommend that you do not respond to e-mails at all, not even to decline or request your name be taken off the list. The best action to take is to contact the company by calling a phone number that you know is valid such as from a statement or the back of your credit card. When you have contacted the company and indeed the e-mail is a scam you may be asked for information from the e-mail to assist the company in tracking and stopping the scam.

Here are other ways to protect yourself:

1. Order and carefully review your credit report at least twice a year. Request any corrections to inaccurate information. If there is anything suspicious in the report place a fraud alert. Again, when requesting your credit report, do not respond to an incoming e-mail or phone call. Contact the agency yourself. The credit reporting agencies are TransUnion (800 8884213), Experian (888 EXPERIAN) and Equifax (800 685-1111). TrueCredit offers a combined report from the three reporting agencies and the web site is www.truecredit.com.
   
2. Review the information on www.fightidentitytheft.com.
   
3. Do not carry extra credit cards, social security cards, birth certificates or your passport in your wallet or purse except when necessary.
   
4. Never leave your purse or wallet unattended.
   
5. Destroy all remaining checks when you close an account.
   
6. Do not have your bank send new checks to your home. Pick them up at the bank.
   
7. Review your bank and credit card statements when you receive them and challenge any transactions you did not make.
   
8. Limit the number of credit cards you have and close inactive accounts.
   
9. Use caution when giving out your social security number. Make sure you feel there is a legitimate reason that it is being requested.
   
10. Shred any records that contain personal information before discarding.
    
11. Memorize passwords and personal identification numbers. Do not write them down and
    carry them with you. Use encryption software to store your passwords - review choices at
    www.spychecker.com/software/pass.html.
    
12. Make a list of all your bank and credit accounts and keep them in a safe place so you can
    quickly call the issuers if cards or checks are ever missing or stolen. The list should include
    account numbers, expiration dates and the phone number for lost or stolen reporting.
    
13. Do not discard pre-approved credit card offers without first shredding the applications.
14. If you don't receive a monthly bill or statement notify the company immediately.
    
15. Consider identity fraud coverage. Some insurance companies offer this coverage as part of the homeowner's policy, it can help defray the costs associated with reclaiming youridentity.
    
16. When you use a credit card in a restaurant or retail store make sure your credit card number is not listed on the receipt that they keep.
    
17. When using your debit or credit card for a transaction, be aware of people near you using a cell phone. Cell phones can be used to photograph account numbers.

If you do become a victim of identity theft the following actions are recommended:

1. Initiate a police report specific to identity theft.
   
2. Notify one of the three major credit bureaus of the fraud. By law, when one agency is notified it must notify the other two.
   
3. Check with the department of motor vehicles to see if any fraudulent ID's or driver's licenses have been issued in your name. If there have been request a fraud alert be place on the department's national computer system.
   
4. Cancel all of your credit cards immediately.
   
5. Obtain a copy of your work history from the Social Security Administration and notify them if there are any errors.
   
6. Immediately review the document at this website: http://www.privacyrights.org.