Ways to Avoid Identity Theft

Consider the following tips if you want to avoid identity theft:

Place the entire contents of your wallet on a photocopier and reproduce both sides of all of your credit cards, drivers license, etc. That way, if you lose your wallet, you will have a record of what it contained. Keep the copy in a safe place.

When speaking on your cell phone in a public place, be careful not to give out personal identifying information such as your date of birth, your social security number, your credit card number, etc. You never know who might overhear your end of the conversation and take advantage of your identifying information

PERSONAL CHECKS

If you pay your credit card bill(s) by personal check, do not put the entire credit card account number on the "For" line of the check. Instead, just put the last four digits of your account number.

Include your work phone number on your personal checks instead of your home telephone number. Similarly, you may want to consider having your work address or a P.O. Box listed on your personal checks rather than your home address.

Some authors have suggested that instead of having your full name printed on your personal check that you should just use you initials and last name, e.g. M. J. Smith rather than Mary Jane Smith.

NEVER have your Social Security Number printed on your checks.

DO NOT have your Driver's license number printed on your checks.

CREDIT CARDS

Do not sign the back of your credit cards. Instead put "Photo ID required".

Keep a an up-to date list of all of your credit cards. On this list include the name of the credit card company, your account number and the toll free phone number for each card. Keep your list in a safe place. By having the list readily available, if your credit card is lost or stolen, you will have the necessary information so you can immediately call your credit card company and cancel the account.

If you lose a credit card call the credit card company IMMEDIATELY to cancel the card.

If you lose a credit card call all three of the major national credit reporting agencies immediately to place a fraud alert on your name. here are the toll-free numbers for the agencies: Equifax: 1-800-525-6285 Experian (formerly TRW): 1-888-397-3742 TransUnion: 1-800-680-7289.

The fraud alert will cause any company that checks your credit to know that your information has been stolen/lost and the company will phone you to obtain your authorization before issuing new credit.

SOCIAL SECURITY CARD

If your social security card is stolen, call the Social Security Administration at 1-800-0271.