Take precautions against identity theft

Leeds News
http://www.theleedsnews.net/business/local_story_240101020.html

By Hayes Parnell III

Identity thieves will steal your wallet, purse, garbage, mail and hack into your computer.

This type of theft is increasing exponentially and victims rarely find out until after the fact.

Let’s discuss some ways to protect yourself against this growing crime.

Review your credit report periodically. Check to make sure that all the information contained in it is correct, and look for fraudulent activity.

You can do this for free once a year by contacting the Annual Credit Report Request Service online at www.annualcreditreport.com or calling (877) 322-8228.

If you need to correct any information or dispute any entries, contact the three national credit reporting agencies:

•Equifax

www.equifax.com

(800) 685-1111

•Experian

www.experian.com

(888) 397-3742

•TransUnion

www.transunion.com (800) 916-8800

Your most important personal identifier is your Social Security number (SSN).

Never carry your Social Security card or other forms of identification that display your SSN with you. Don’t have your SSN preprinted on your checks, and don’t let merchants write it on your checks. Don’t give it out over the phone unless you initiate the call to an organization you trust.

Don’t carry your checkbook and all of your credit, debit, and telephone cards with you all the time. Carry only the cards or checks you’ll need for any one trip.

Keep a written record of all your account numbers, expiration dates, and the telephone numbers of the customer service and fraud departments in a secure place.

When you make a purchase with a credit or debit card, keep the receipt. Don’t throw it away because it may contain your credit or debit card number.

Save your receipts until you can check them against your monthly credit card and bank statements, and look for purchases you didn’t make.

Before you throw out credit or debit card receipts and statements, cancelled checks, or even offers for credit you receive in the mail, shred the documents with a cross-cut shredder.

The more your personal information is available to others, the more likely you are to be victimized by identity theft. Keep a low profile and consider doing the following:

•List your telephone number with the Federal Trade Commission’s National Do Not Call Registry by calling (888) 382-1222 or registering online at www.donotcall.gov;

•Write the Direct Marketing Association at 1120 Avenue of the Americas, New York, NY 10036-6700, or register online at www.dmachoice.org to stop credit offers by mail;

•Remove your name from marketing lists of the three national consumer reporting agencies, call (888) 567-8688 or register online at www.optoutprescreen.com;

•Opt out of allowing creditors to share your financial information with other organizations;

•Remove your name and address from the telephone book;

Protect your privacy on your computer. If you have high-speed internet access, install a firewall to prevent hackers from obtaining information from your hard drive and install virus protection software and update it on a regular basis.

Don’t open e-mails from people you don’t know, especially if you download attached files or click on hyperlinks within the message.

This can expose you to viruses and infect your computer with “spyware” that captures personal information. Visit business websites by typing the URL address directly into your browser.

If you provide personal or financial information about yourself over the Internet, do so only at secure websites that begin with “https.” And always use a “wipe” utility program when discarding your old computer to remove all personal information you may have stored on it.

Contact your friendly home town banker for more ideas on how to protect your personal information from identity theft.