Protect Yourself against Identity Theft

Identity thieves can empty your bank account, max out your credit cards, open new accounts in your name, and purchase furniture, cars, and even homes on the basis of your credit history. And all you’ll get for their efforts is the headache and expense of cleaning up the mess they leave behind.

You may never be able to completely prevent your identity from being stolen, but there are some steps you can take to help protect yourself from becoming a victim.

Check yourself out

Review your credit report periodically to make sure that all the information contained in it is correct, and be on the lookout for any fraudulent activity. You can get a free credit report once a year by contacting the Annual Credit Report Request Service at 877-322-8228 or www.annualcreditreport.com. If you need to correct any information or dispute any entries, contact the three national credit reporting agencies (see sidebar).

Secure your number

Your most important personal identifier is your Social Security number (SSN). Guard it carefully. Never carry your Social Security card with you unless you’ll need it. The same goes for other forms of identification that display your SSN (for example, health insurance cards). If your state uses your SSN as your driver’s license number, request an alternate number. Don’t have your SSN printed on your checks, and don’t let merchants write it on your checks. Don’t give your SSN out over the phone unless you’ve initiated the call to an organization you trust.

Don’t leave home with it

Carry only the cards or checks you’ll need for any one trip; that way, if your wallet or purse is stolen, you won’t give the thief a treasure chest of new toys to play with. Also, keep a written record of all your account numbers, credit card expiration dates, and the telephone numbers of the customer service and fraud departments in a secure place–at home.

Keep your receipts

Don’t throw away or leave behind credit or debit card receipts; they may contain your credit or debit card number. Save your receipts until you can check them against your monthly statements, and watch your statements for purchases you didn’t make.

When you toss it, shred it

Before you throw out any financial records such as credit or debit card receipts and statements, cancelled checks, or even offers for credit you receive in the mail, shred the documents, preferably with a cross-cut shredder. If you don’t, you may find that the panhandler going through your dumpster was looking for more than discarded leftovers.

Keep a low profile

The more your personal information is available to others, the more likely you are to be victimized by identity theft. While you don’t need to become a hermit in a cave, take steps to help minimize your exposure:

Stop telephone calls from national telemarketers by listing your telephone number with the Federal Trade Commission’s National Do Not Call Registry.
Contact the three national consumer reporting agencies to remove your name from marketing lists they prepare.
When given the opportunity to do so by your bank, investment firm, insurance company, and credit card companies, opt out of allowing them to share your financial information with other organizations.

Take a byte out of crime

You don’t want your computer to reveal your personal information to others. Take steps to help prevent that from happening:

Install a firewall to prevent hackers from either obtaining information from your hard drive or hijacking your computer to use in committing other crimes.
Install virus protection software, and update it on a regular basis.
Don’t open e-mails from unknown parties, and don’t download files attached to e-mails from strangers or click on hyperlinks within the message body.
Be diligent

As the grizzled duty sergeant used to say on a televised police drama, “Be careful out there.” The identity you save may be your own.

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