March 15th, 2009 Phyllis Wolborsky Posted in Raleigh real estate

I received this information on Identity Theft and thought it was great information that would be important for my friends to READ AND KEEP.  You can never have enough information, with the world as it is today, concerning identity Theft, STAY SAFE.

1. Do not sign the back of your credit cards.  Instead, in that space , put ‘PHOTO ID REQUIRED’

2. When you are writing checks to pay on your credit card accounts, DO NOT put the complete account number on the ‘For” line.  Instead just put the last four numbers.  The credit card company knows he rest of the number and anyone who might be handling your checks as it passes through all the check processing channels won’t have access to it.

3. Put your work phone # on your checks instead of your home phone.  if you have a PO Box use that instead of your home address .  If you do not have a PO Box, use your work address.  Never have your SS# printed on your checks. (DUH) You can add it if it is necessary but if you have it printed anyone can get to it.

4. Place the contents of your wallet on a photocopy machine. Copy both sides of each licensee, credit card, etc. You will know what you had in your wallet and all of the account numbers and phone numbers to call and cancel.  keep the photocopy in a safe place.

5. We have been told w should cancel our credit cards immediately. But the key is having the toll free numbers and the card numbers handy so you know whom to call.  Keep those where you can find them.

6. File a police report immediately in the jurisdiction where your credit cards, etc. were stolen.  this proves to credit providers you were diligent, and this is the first step towards an investigation (if ever there was one)

But here’s what is perhaps most important of all: (I never even thought to do this)

7. Call the 3 national credit reporting organizations immediately to place a fraud alert on your name and also call the Social Security fraud line number.  i had never heard of doing this until advised by the bank that called to tell me an application for credit was made over the Internet in my name.

The alert means any company that checks your credit knows your information was stolen, and they have to contact you by phone to authorize new credit.

I hope this information was informative.  Remember, always be observant of your surroundings.

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