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IT Theft Protection - What to do Right Now
- by Jim G. George
The bear in your campground analogy:
Perfect protection is unreachable but you can be better protected than most people with reasonable efforts. The "Bear in Your Campground" story applies here. When a bear comes into your campground, you can't outrun the bear but you can outrun the other campers. The fact is that there is no way you can be sure to outrun the thieves either, but you can outrun the other potential victims - and that may be enough. I will try to help you make the trade-offs that work for you.
There are lots of people out there making it easy to steal their identities. You don't want to be one of them. There is a lot you can do without major expenditures and major changes in your lifestyle. The point of this book is to teach you what you can do and let you make intelligent trade-offs yourself of security versus cost and inconvenience.
Things to do right away:The point of this is to get you off to a fast start, positioned to better protect yourself. Some of the things you should do right away include:
Review your last bank and card statements. Be sure all listed transactions were authorized by a family member, don't assume. Also check to see that you are not missing the most recent statement, as that might be a sign of account takeover. List each account and card on the Account and Card Inventory Form provided in the back of this book. Include on your list your divers license and ID cards from your employer, insurers, that would have to be replaced if your wallet was lost or stolen. This form will be an important tool for detection as well as recovery.
Order a credit report. One report from each agency per year is now free. Some people get one each four months, on a revolving basis, so that they never have to pay for a report. Some request all three or each more often. This is one of those trade-offs of protection versus expense and effort. To order, go to the Annual Credit Report Service at www.annualcreditreport.com, call them at 877-322-8228, or contact a specific credit agency:* Equifax: 800-685-1111 or www.equifax.com* Experian: 888-397-3742 or www.experian.com * Transunion: 800-888-4213 or www.transunion.com
Calendar the date when you want to order the next credit report. And note which agencies are next in rotation, if you are ordering one at a time.
When I first did this I found a debt listed that had been run up by my former wife. I called the bank and got them to take it off of my credit report. As reviewing your credit report is an ongoing habit, we will discuss what to do when the report arrives in the next section.
Install a locking mailbox or get a Post Office Box. Incoming mail can provide a thief with credit cards, applications, checks, and various identifying information. I put up the first locking mailbox in my neighborhood. It cost $60 and a little time. But when one neighbor had a box of checks stolen and another lost incoming pay and dividend checks, I wasn't the only one for long.
When my wife went out to run in the mornings, at least once a week she noticed all the unlocked mailboxes were hanging open. One day in the park I found all of a certain neighbor's junk mail. But not those credit card offers and nothing that resembled account statements, or other financial or government mail - those were too valuable for the thieves to toss. What was going on was that groups of teens were cruising the streets making quick grabs into unlocked boxes. They sell "interesting" items to a broker. The broker sorts out the items by type and sells groups of like items to transaction specialists. Certain thieves pass bad checks, others use deposit slips, still others specialize in cards-related frauds.
P.O. boxes may be safer, if less convenient and more expensive, another trade-off. The bear might tear into your locked mailbox, but if the other campers have open jars of honey out front, then why would he bother you?
Get gel ballpoint pens for writing checks. A thief can take a check from your outgoing mail, remove regular ballpoint pen ink with nail polish remover (protecting the signature, of course), and have a signed blank check - on your account.
The cheapest investment you can make is to buy a gel ballpoint pen and keep it clipped to your checkbook. Gel is a newer kind of ink which cannot be removed by washing. The point is to look for the word "GEL" on the pen, buy it, and use it for all your checks.
Get a shredder. A crosscut or confetti style is best, as strips can be reconstructed. Anything with your social security number on it or containing personal data is fair game to the thieves when it hits your garbage bag or can. "Dumpster diving" is a profitable profession.
Things you don't want fished from your trash include bank and card statements, old taxes, voided or old checks, deposit slips, credit applications you don't want to complete, credit offers, and those checks the credit card companies send you to initiate low interest rate loans and balance transfers.
Change poor PINs and passwords. They should be at least six numbers and/or characters. They should not be easy to guess or based on information which might be in your wallet. The first numbers a purse or wallet thief would try are parts of your birth date, phone number, SSN, and any other key number they find in you wallet. Realize that your SSN can be accessed by a large number of people. A thief might obtain it and try different parts of it in guessing your PIN even if they don't find it in your wallet.
There are trade-offs here too. * Multiples - If you always use the same password it is easy to remember but people at each site have access to it. So you also might want to use a unique password on banking sites. If you use the same ID and password on many sites you are exposing them to key employees of multiple companies.
* Complexity - Complex passwords may be hard to recall and tempt you to write them down in a handy spot.
* Real or made-up - To be extra careful, you might create and use an imaginary "mother's maiden name", as the real one could be researched. It is on your birth certificate, for example.
Set up a password on each bank and card account. Use your Account and Card Inventory Form as a guide to contact each bank. Once set up, the password can be used by the bank to determine it is really calling them with a transaction such as an address change or funds transfer. If the only way they can identify you is by asking for personal data, your account is exposed to any thief who has obtained your data.
Remove any PINs or passwords written in your wallet / purse.They could be a goldmine for a thief.
Secure any PIN and password list within your home.Don't leave them out, in a well labelled file in an unlocked file cabinet, on your computer in an easy to find file, or on a notebook PC that could be stolen.
Protect Social Security Numbers (SSN). Remove them from your checks, driver's license, resume, or other documents where it is not required. My employer forced their insurance companies to take our SSNs off of our group insurance cards.
Remove unneeded IDs from your wallet, purse, and car.This will reduce the potential damage from theft and reduce the work you will have to do if theft does occur.
Protect your PC'sGet and run anti-spyware and anti-virus programs and firewalls. Be sure to use the encryption option on wireless networks. Another article covers habits to keep you safer.
This article is from a larger workbook available at www.yourIDsite.com
Copyright Jim G. George
About the Author
Mr. George is consultant to banks on fraud and related issues. He has resources on IT theft available at www.yourIDsite.com He is not selling ID theft protection insurance, as are many so-called experts with sites on the Internet.
