Thwarting Thievery
There are several steps you can take on an ongoing basis as protection against identity theft.
They are:
* Carrying with you (in your wallet, etc.) only those credit and other identifying cards you will actually need. Never carry your social security card unless you are heading to a place where you will actually have to have it.
* Never putting your credit card number, social security number, or other personal and financial account information on any postcard or the outside of an envelope.
* Protection against identity theft does not involve just your active credit cards, and because of this you should cut up any expired or otherwise inactive credit cards. Close all bank accounts you aren’t using and close credit cards accounts you don’t need or don’t use regularly. The reason this is important is that, unused or not, they appear on any report of your credit that is requested and could be used to obtain loans, credit or make purchases fraudulently.
* As with any computer password, your debit card or ATM card pin should be impossible for someone else to surmise. A pin that is your birth date, your child or spouse’s birth date, the last four of your social security number or anything else someone could guess, is no protection against identity theft. In fact, using the last four of your social security number is giving away the most personally identifying portion of that social security number. Do not record your PIN number anywhere. You must memorize it.
* Another form of protection against identity theft is to avoid giving out any personal information over the Web, on the phone or through the postal service, unless you are the one that initiated the contact and you know the firm that is requesting the information.
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