Before your wallet or purse is stolen, please follow these steps, it could just save your Identity!!!
1. Don't just sign the back of your credit cards, also put "SEE PHOTO ID" & then Put a strip of Tape Over Your Signature, See Photo ID, & Security #.
2. When you are writing checks 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 check as it passes through all the check processing channels won't have access to it.
3. Put your work phone # on your checks instead of your home phone. If you have a PO Box use that instead of your home address. If you do not have a PO Box, use your work address. Never have your SS# printed on your checks (DUH!) You can add it if it is necessary. But if you have it printed, anyone can get it.
4. 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. I also carry a photocopy of my passport when I travel either here or abroad. We've all heard horror stories about fra ud that's committed on us in stealing a name, address, Social Security number, credit cards.
5. 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.
6. File a police report immediately in the jurisdiction where your credit cards , etc., were stolen. This prove s 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: (I never even thought to do this.)
7. Call the 3 national credit reporting organizations immediately to place a fraud alert on your name and also call the Social Security fraud line 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 thieves' purchases, none of which I knew about before placing the alert. Since then, no additional damage has been done, and the thieves threw my wallet away this weekend (someone turned it in). It seems to have stopped them dead in their tracks.
Now, here are the numbers you'll need to contact, about your wallet, if it's been stolen:
- Equifax Credit Freeze Instructions - 1-800-525-6285
- Experian Credit Freeze Instructions - 1-888-397-3742
- TransUnion Credit Freeze Instructions - 1-800-680-7289
- Social Security Administration - 1-800-269-0271
- Also, If you suspect someone is using your SS number, you should take these steps to protect yourself and your financial health:
- Educate yourself about identity theft
- File a complaint with the Federal Trade Commission
- (1-877-ID-THEFT or 1-877-438-4338)
- File an online complaint with the Internet Crime Complaint Center at http://www.ic3.gov/
- Check your Social Security records (call toll-free 1-800-772-1213; TTY 1-800-325-0778) to ensure your income is calculated correctly
- Monitor your credit reports
