1. Do not give your
Social Security number, mother's
maiden name or account numbers
to strangers who contact you,
especially by phone, Internet or
mail. Identity thieves sometimes
pose as business, bank or
government representatives to
get you to reveal personal
information. Legitimate
financial or government
organizations that do business
with you already have this
information and will not ask for
it by calling you. Be
conservative when filling out
warranty cards, subscription
forms, prize-drawing cards and
web-site registration forms.
2. Put passwords on your
credit card, bank and phone
accounts. Avoid using
easily available information
like your mother's name, your
birth date, the last four digits
of your Social Security Number,
your phone number or an easy
series of numbers such as 1234. Protection from ID Theft. Become part of the 1 million+ LifeLock has helped protect. Enroll Now.
3. Do not carry PIN
numbers, birth certificates,
Social Security cards or
passports unless absolutely
necessary. Do not carry
credit cards or ID cards you
don't need.
4. Review your credit
card and other credit statements
each month and make sure you
know exactly what you're being
billed for. Challenge
any charges you didn't
authorize. Pay attention to what
time of month your bills arrive.
If they don't arrive on time,
call the creditor to make sure
an identity thief hasn't changed
your billing address to keep you
from discovering phony charges.
5. Guard your mail from
theft. Don't leave
outgoing mail in an unsecured
mailbox. Use a locking mailbox
or take it to a collection box
or your local post office.
Promptly remove mail after it
has been delivered. If you are
planning to be away from home,
call the U.S. Postal Service at
1-800-275-8777 to request a
vacation hold.
6. Tear up or shred
documents containing personal
information before throwing them
away. Use a shredder to
slice bills, charge receipts,
copies of credit applications,
insurance forms, physician
statements, bank checks and
statements, expired charge cards
and credit offers you get in the
mail.
Sad to say many businesclickses just
aren't shredding personal
information.
7. Eliminate credit
cards you rarely or never use.
You must notify the card issuing
company in writing that you are
canceling the card, even if it
was never activated. Be aware
that canceling a credit card
will likely affect your credit
score.
8. Contact your card
issuer to find out if any of
your cardholder information can
be given to partners or
affiliates (third parties) of
the card issuer. If so,
ask for the address to write to
cancel this authorization. You
might want to use the phrase:
"no third party solicitations."
9. Contact the three
major credit bureaus and ask to
"Opt Out" of the
pre-approved credit lists they
sell to companies. Call
1-888-5-OPTOUT (567-8688) or
make the request online at
www.optoutprescreen.com.
Note that you will be asked for
your Social Security number and
birth date; the credit bureaus
already have this information
and the Web site is encrypted.
However, if you choose not to
provide your Social Security and
birth date, the bureaus will
attempt to process your request
without this information. When
making a request by phone you
can say "No" when asked for
your Social Security number or
birth date. You will need to say
"No" twice before the automated
system accepts your request.
Requests made online or by phone
are valid for five years. You
can also permanently remove your
name from these lists by mailing
a request using the form
available at
www.optoutprescreen.com.
10. Remove your name
from marketer's unsolicited
mailing and calling lists.
Make a request online at
https://www.dmaconsumers.org/cgi/offmailing or
write to Direct Marketing
Association's Mail Preference
Service, P.O. Box 282, Carmel,
NY 10512. You'll pay $1.
11. Be cautious about
"trial memberships."
Refuse the offer if you will be
billed and later have to cancel
if you don't like the product.
Recognize that even if you do
not give out your credit card
number, you might still be
billed.
12. Check your credit
report to make sure it is
accurate. A recent
amendment to the Federal Fair
Credit Reporting Act (FCRA)
requires each of the nationwide
consumer reporting companies to
provide you with a free copy of
your credit report, at your
request, once every 12 months,
from
www.annualcreditreport.com
by calling 877-322-8228, or by
completing the Annual Credit
Report Request Form and mailing
it to: Annual Credit Report
Request Service, P.O. Box
105281, Atlanta, GA 30348-5281.
Clean Up Your Credit Report.
The
law allows credit bureaus to
charge up to $9.00 for a copy of
your report. You can request a
free copy if you've been turned
down for a credit application
and the denial of credit was
based on the information from
the reporting agency.
The
major credit bureaus are:
| |
Equifax |
Experian |
Trans Union |
|
Address |
P.O. Box 740241
Atlanta, GA 30374-0241
www.equifax.com |
P.O. Box 2104
Allen, TX 75013
www.experian.com |
P.O. Box 1000
Chester, PA 19022
www.transunion.com |
|
Order Credit
Report |
1-800-685-1111 |
1-888-EXPERIAN
(888-397-3742) |
1-800-916-8800 |
|
Report Fraud |
1-800-525-6285 |
1-888-EXPERIAN |
1-800-680-7289 |
If you believe your identity has
been stolen and used by another
to make purchases you didn't
authorize, you need to act
quickly to minimize the damage.
Use Your Rights! Repair Your Credit!
