PASSING ALONG SOME GOOD ADVICE FOR ID PROTECTION

A corporate attorney passed these remarks along to the employees in his company, and many are worth mentioning here. His advice comes first hand, unfortunately, because his wallet was stolen. First, he says don’t sign your credit cards; instead put “Photo ID Required.” That means if the card is stolen, the thief can’t use it without also having your picture ID. Second, only use the last four numbers of your account number in the “memo” line, when paying by check. Personally, I’ve stopped using anything, and insure there is always a payment coupon enclosed with my check. Third, use a work instead of home phone, if the clerk asks for it; never put the number on your checks. Also, use a PO Box on the checks instead of home, if you have a box. The fourth was to place all the contents of your wallet on a copy machine and copy for reference. However, I recommend holding up on that until we’ve received some feedback on my earlier post about photocopiers retaining your scanned personal data. Fifth, file a police report in the jurisdiction where the credit cards were stolen, and call the three major credit reporting agencies: Equifax (1-800-525-6285); Experian (1-888-397-3742); TransUnion (1-800-680-7289). The ID theft issue is real and you’d better put the security of your sensitive data on the front burner before it’s too late.