Protecting Yourself From Identity Theft

"With "good behavior", van der sloot might only serve 1/2 of his 28 year sentence and with Peruvian jail overcrowding..." — @ClintVanZandt

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Protecting Yourself From Identity Theft

On 10.24.09—By Dr. Clint Van Zandt

Although identity theft is impossible to completely prevent, the following tips can help mitigate this threat

Guard your social security number. It is the key to your credit report and bank accounts, and is the prime target of criminals.
Monitor your credit report. It contains your Social Security number (SSN), present and prior employers, a listing of all account numbers, including those that have been closed, and your overall credit score.
Shred all old bank and credit statements, as well as “junk mail” credit-card offers, before trashing them and remove your name from the marketing lists of the three credit-reporting bureaus. This reduces the number of pre-approved credit offers you receive.
Add your name to the National Do Not Call registry list.
Do not carry extra credit cards or other important identity documents except when needed and photocopy both sides of your license & credit cards so you have all the account numbers, expiration dates and phone numbers if you lose these items.
Consider not mailing bill payments and checks from home. They can be stolen from your mailbox and your checks washed clean in chemicals. Instead take them to a postal drop box and have your SSN removed from your personal checks, drivers licenses & medical ID cards.
Order your Social Security Earnings and Benefits statement once a year to check for fraud. You can learn how to do that by visiting the Social Security Official Web Site.
Examine the charges on your credit-card statements before paying them and cancel unused credit-card accounts. Obtain your credit report to identify current accounts.
Never give your credit-card number or personal information over the phone unless you have initiated the call and trust that business.
Consider subscribing to a credit-report monitoring service that will notify you whenever someone applies for credit in your name.

2 Responses to “Protecting Yourself From Identity Theft”

Elisa says:

March 1, 2011 at 11:39 am

What can I do My ss# stolen Some has set up camp in Lasvegas NV as me They have left un-paid debit and trashed my credit.
Help please.
JC says:

August 6, 2011 at 3:14 am

I had my papers stolen by UPS Store employee; taken right out of the container. Among other things I’d have to say UPS Stores are horrible places to do business. They claim to shred, notarize & have mailboxes. BIG BIG BIG mistake to trust these guys