The only free advice my attorney gave.

[toomanyknives]

Read this and make a copy for your files in case you need to refer to it someday
1. Do not sign the back of your credit cards. Instead, put "PHOTO ID REQUIRED."

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.

5. If you have to cancel your credit cards 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. If your wallet is stolen, 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:

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. 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.

Now, here are the numbers you always need to contact about your wallet, etc., has been stolen:

1) Equifax: 1-800-525-6285

2) Experian (formerly TRW): 1-888-397-3742

3) Trans Union: 1-800-680-7289

4) Social Security Administration (fraud line): 1-800-269-0271

Hopefully nobody needs this but it could prove to be valuable!!

Jack

 

[Ken C.]

Another copy/paste email that someone decided to share. Marvelous.

Please do not copy paste your forwarded chain emails into the Community Center Forum. We don't like to get them in our inboxes and we sure don't want to read them on BFC. If you feel the need to pass it along send it to your family.

For future reference, of course.

 

[toomanyknives]

I did not see that or I would not have posted the message, I did receive it from my best friend, also my attorney today. I immediately did many of the things in the message because I had not thought of doing it in the past.

Thanks for the heads up on what not to post.


Jack

 

[Ken C.]

That announcement is not up there to look pretty. It serves a purpose.

 

[Cougar Allen]

One reason for that is whatever forwarded warnings appear in your mailbox have usually been circulating for years (this variant dates to 2002) and most of us have gotten it many times.

More important, forwarded email varies from wildly distorted to completely false (most common). This one is mostly true, which is unusual, but it's still misleading enough that propogating it is not a good idea. Details at http://www.snopes.com/inboxer/scams/credit.htm -- scroll down to the bottom for analysis of a variant similar to this one. Don't be misled by the verdict "TRUE" at the top of the page. For one thing that's referring to a different variant that isn't as misleading as this one, and for another, at Snopes "TRUE" means something like "not COMPLETELY false."

 

[Gollnick]

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

Your signature on the back is not there for identification. No. That signature is your assent to the Card Holder's Agreement including that you will pay the charges. If you haven't signed the card, then you haven't agreed to a pay your charges and no merchant should honor your card.

 

[Gollnick]

One true tip that is not on here a should be: Do NOT carry your social security card in your wallet. It is not valid for identification. There are very few times in your life when you need that card and they don't come up on the spur of the moment. So, keep that card in a safe place and only get it out for those few times.

By the way, this tip expands to a more general practice of simply not carrying things you don't need in general. For example, the ATM card for an account that you don't use often, just don't carry it around.

 

[rifon2]

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. 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.

Now, here are the numbers you always need to contact about your wallet, etc., has been stolen:

1) Equifax: 1-800-525-6285

2) Experian (formerly TRW): 1-888-397-3742

3) Trans Union: 1-800-680-7289

4) Social Security Administration (fraud line): 1-800-269-0271

Hopefully nobody needs this but it could prove to be valuable!!

Jack

Another great tool: Several states now have passed legislation allowing consumers to completely "freeze" their credit reporting.

One of them is NJ, for example:

If you live in New Jersey, you have the right to put a "security freeze" on your credit file. A security freeze means that your file cannot be shared with potential creditors. A security freeze can help prevent identity theft. Most businesses will not open credit accounts without checking a consumer's credit history first. If your credit files are frozen, even someone who has your name and Social Security number would probably not be able to get credit in your name.

If you believe that you are the victim of identity theft, please contact your local law enforcement agency and file a police report with them.


To place a freeze, you must write to each of the three credit reporting agencies. You must provide identifying information. If you are an identity theft victim, provide a copy of your police report of identity theft. Placing a security freeze on your credit report is free.

Write to the addresses below:

Equifax Security Freeze
P.O. Box 105788
Atlanta, GA 30348
Send by certified mail.
Name, current and former address, Social Security number, date of birth

Experian Security Freeze
P.O. Box 9554
Allen, TX 75013
Send by certified mail.
Full name, with middle initial and Jr./Sr., etc.
Current address and home addresses for past five years, Social Security number, birth date, two proofs of residence (copy of driver's license, utility bill, insurance statement, bank statement)

Trans Union Security Freeze
P.O. Box 6790
Fullerton, CA 92834-6790
Send by regular or certified mail.
First name, middle initial, last name, Jr., etc.
Current home address and addresses for past five years, Social Security number, birth date

-from NJ Dept of Banking and Insurance

 

[AmadeusM]

Your signature on the back is not there for identification. No. That signature is your assent to the Card Holder's Agreement including that you will pay the charges. If you haven't signed the card, then you haven't agreed to a pay your charges and no merchant should honor your card.

Not signing it is also the only way (successful about 10% of the time) for the merchant to ask me for ID, which I wish all merchants would do.

 

[JD Mandrell]

Not signing it is also the only way (successful about 10% of the time) for the merchant to ask me for ID, which I wish all merchants would do.

I agree, I have done that to ALL my cards, but rarely does a clerk look at the back and make me show ID.

And with the rise of "swipe it yourself" card readers, clerks often never even touch my card, I just sign my name on the screen and it goes through.

I frequently sign the screen "Mickey Mouse" and have never had a transaction fail to get approved.

Great system we got!

 

[Gollnick]

I frequently sign the screen "Mickey Mouse" and have never had a transaction fail to get approved.

Oh, you Americans... complain complain complain. You want your transactions approved immediately, and you want the signature verifed too. You want the lowest possible fees, and yet if the credit card companies were to off-shore signature verification, you'd get mad at them for that too.

 

[JD Mandrell]

and yet if the credit card companies were to off-shore signature verification, you'd get mad at them for that too.

Nope, free market capitalism at it's best, as long as my credit card company meets the terms of my contract with them, I could care less who and where it's done.

It's a Global Economy folks....catch the wave!