What Can We Do To Protect Ourselves From Identity Theft...?

Question

With news just coming out of yet another loss of data, I was wondering what practical steps people can take to ensure they don't fall foul of identity theft? Any practical tips most welcome.

Answer 1

Best Answer - Chosen by Asker

I've been a victim of this and here is what I have learnd.

1. The next time you order cheques have only your initials (instead of first name) and last name put on them. If someone takes your chequebook, they will not know if you sign your cheques with just your initials or your first name, but your bank will know how you sign them.

2. Do not sign the back of your credit cards. Instead, put "PHOTO ID REQUIRED".

3. When you are writing cheques 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 the rest of the number, and anyone who might be handling your cheque as it passes through all the cheque processing channels won't have access to it.

4. Put your work phone # on your cheques instead of your home phone. If you have a P.O. box use that instead of your home address. If you do not have a P.O. box, use your work address. Never have your NIN# printed on your cheques (DUH!). You can add it if it is necessary. But if you have it printed, anyone can get it.

5. Place the contents of your wallet on a photocopy machine. Do both sides of each license, 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. Also carry a photocopy of your passport when travelling either here or abroad. We've all heard horror stories about fraud that's committed on us in stealing a name, address, NIN, credit cards.

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

2. 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 a first step toward an investigation (if there ever is one).

But here's what is perhaps most important of all:

3. Call the two national credit reporting organizations immediately to place a fraud alert on your name and National Insurance Number. I had never heard of doing that until advised by a 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. By the time I was advised to do this, almost two weeks after the theft, all the damage had been done. There are records of all the credit checks initiated by the thief's purchases, none of which I knew about before placing the alert. Since then, no additional damage has been done, and the thief threw my wallet away
(someone turned it in).

It seems to have stopped them dead in their tracks.

Asker's Rating:

Asker's Comment:

Many thanks for that, and the all the other tips everyone posted. Sorry I could only pick one.

Answer 2

steal someone elses and use theres

Answer 3

Its soo hard now a day.. but honestly buy a lil 12 dollar shredder and shred all paper documents people actually do go through trash. Dont use your debit card online and Credit cards... Use cash!! remember cash? Avoid puttin personal information online such as your SS#.... watch when you fill out things make sure that whatever it is isnt sharing your information with other companies etc.

Hope this helps!!

Answer 4

Keep changing your identity!

Answer 5

Make sure your computer passwords are a mix of 8 letters, number and characters that aren't a word in the dictionary.
Don't carry your social security card in your wallet.

Answer 6

Hide your name under your pillow...

Answer 7

Put strong passwords on everything. Ask your bank and credit card companies to add a password to your accounts - you will have to give it every time you call in for information, but it's much safer.

Always use strong passwords - those OVER 7 characters and using at least 2 non-letter non-number characters like ampersand, pound sign, percent sign, etc.

Shred all "free" or "pre-approved" junk mail and don't forget the order pages in all those catalogues that come in the mail - people can use those to open accounts in your name very easily.

Use your FULL NAME on all paperwork all the time. You may be "Tim" to your friends, but the paperwork should show "Timothy McMillan Simonize". Anyone nearby won't hear that and can't use it later to steal your name.

Be careful who's around you when you put in a PIN to access accounts. A cell phone camera can capture your finger movements when you put it in. Shield your entry with your body and other hand.

Don't checkmark the box "save my information for later" when you make online purchases. If your credit card number information isn't stored, it can't be stolen later.

Source(s):

experience

Answer 8

for credit cards... maximize your credit line, to discourage credit card theft... then declare insolvency

Answer 9

I heard a good tip for checks. Do not put your whole name on the check. Put your first initial and your last name ONLY. Also, if you are paying a credit card by check, do not put the whole number on it. Just write in the last cluster of digits, usually 4 digits.

Answer 10

having been a victim of this my self i don't think (apart from the obvious common sense things ) there is much you can do. in my case my credit card info was sold by a member of my banks call centre.fortunately with their safeguards it was picked up very quickly and the £4000 was credited back to my account. what could anyone do in that situation ( apart from not having a credit card ) they even had my e-mail Addy and got in touch, just who can you trust these days.

Answer 11

I have no idea however someone stole my wallet not to long ago. They have my license ss# and one of my credit card, plus $20.00......I reported to the police however I'm not going to hold my breath.......The good thing was that they didn't make any charges on my credit card........As for my ID got knows where will they use it......

Answer 12

Obviously we can't do anything to stop government agencies misplacing data we have entrusted to them, but the principals of good practice we demand of them we should apply to ourselves.

This is what I do.

I shred all houshold bills that have been paid that I do not need or wish to keep.

After 12 months I check stuff I have kept and shred anything no longer needed.

Shop receipts are shrededd after I have checked them against my credit card bill unless they need to be kept for returns.

Tax information is kept in a seperate folder.

I limit online information and only use secure sites.

I operate a two credit card system. 1 I use on line and only on line. I do not keep my pin number for this anywhere and do not even know what it is.
I have a second credit card for 'daily' use and check all receipts against this.

I do not add information to online or post questionaires that is not essential or mandatory.

I have stopped entering post competitions that offer 'free' or 'win' a trip in exchange for lots of information.

Phone calls received from people who's accent I do not recognise as traditionaly British (so possibly off shore call centres) are politely refused especially if they are offering anything to do with finances.

I use UK based brokers for Insurance etc who have a physical location I can visit within a 70 mile radius of where I live.

I check new organisations web sites and scour them for information about who really owns them. I find most of the time I cannot establish things to my satisfaction so don't use them.

I do not make a purchase that involves me buying a 'branded' item from a non brand web site unless it is an acknowledged approved distributor.

I keep most of my savings at a seperate bank to the bank I use for cash transactions.

I don't let my children have unnecessary access to cards etc that might require them to disclose family information as a consequence without my approval.

I keep my allowable overdraft limit at a low level so if anyone is successful on stealing information they have limited chances.

I do not take out concurrent running loans and wait for each item to be paid for before considering a new loan.

In other words you may not be able to guarantee against identity theft but you can limit its impact before you find out about it.

As for a complete 'new' you created from base information that is not possible to know except by coincidence. It is easy to obtain sufficient information legally and from recognised institutions to 'copy' anybody but that is different from them gaining access to your personal possessions.

Answer 13

You have lots of good help on this,,, One thing that should
be done,, with respect to credit cards,,, Thumb Print on the
card. When using the card on the Internet,, Some form of
verification should be done,, before acceptance by a retailer.

A phone call back to you, asking are you making this purchase. If so what is your security code outside of the one
on the card.. stops it right there. If this is not done,, the retailer
or business accepts the loss and the hit,,

Source(s):

USJD:SA(ret.)

Answer 14

shred all your personal correspondence and when using the internet check that the little padlock in the corner is present otherwise it is an unsecure site. memorise your pin number and if you think someone has found it out then change the number every so often ie like once every couple of months.