April 13, 2007

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  NEWS: New Fraud Prevention Tips (Part 3 of 3

   

  The American Chronicle recently published a list of tips meant to prevent and combat identity theft. The FBI has called identity theft "the fastest growing crime in America." Nearly 10 million Americans every year are victimized by it, and the costs are estimated at 50 billion dollars annually. The tips were broken down into three categories – basic identity theft defense, the credit hijacking defense, and financial identity protection tips. Here is the third part of the series – sensible financial identity protection tips, as recommended by the Chronicle:
  
  1.) Keep a list (in a secure location!) of all your bank account and credit card numbers, along with the customer service phone numbers for each account. In the event that you lose your checkbook or cards, you have the information on backup.
  
  2.) Keep your number of credit cards as low as possible. The fewer you have, the more easily you can monitor monthly activity and be aware of anything unusual.
  
  3.) Look into getting a locking mail box. Only send mail through secure mail deposit boxes.
  
  4.) Never give personal information through a link you've clicked in an e-mail. Type the address of the sender directly.
  
  5.) Do not have your checks printed with any information other than your first initial last name, and address.
  
  6.) Write "see ID" or some permutation thereof on the back of your credit cards. Not everyone checks for this, unfortunately, but it's still a good defense.
  
  7.) Keep in mind that a Visa/MasterCard check card or debit card usually does not offer as much liability protection as a credit card.
  
  8.) Store all credit cards, bank statements and passports in a very secure location. This sounds like a no-brainer, but consider investing in a lock-box or safe.
  
  9.) Never give out your personal information unless there is a clear and present need for the details.
  
  10.) Visit www.experian.com, www.equifax.com, www.transunion.com to learn the details of placing fraud alerts on your credit reports as needed.
  
  
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