Advice to End Fraud and Credit Theft
October 31st, 2008. Published under UrbanSpeaker. No Comments.
Many people in the world today have been or will be victims of credit card or other types of fraud. Occasionally there is nothing that can be done about it, but more often the crimes and losses could have been prevented if a few precautionary measures had been taken.
Here are a few little bits of advice you should follow to lessen your chances of credit fraud.
1\\ Protect your checks.
Next time you order new checks, have your last name printed as normal, but have just the initial of your first name printed. That way, if someone takes your checkbook, they will not know if you sign your checks with just your initials or your first name, but your bank will know how you sign your checks.
2\\ Protect your credit cards.
Do not sign the back of your credit cards. Instead, put “PHOTO ID REQUIRED.”
3\\ Don’t give away your credit card number.
When it comes time to pay your credit card bill, go ahead and write a check, but do not write the full card number. Instead, just put the last four numbers. The credit card company knows the rest of the number, and this way anyone who may be handling the check won’t be able to steal the number and use your credit card.
4\\ Protect your identity.
Often criminals will try to use information that they can find on you to recover other information. Protect your personal details by not giving out your home phone, rather have your work phone printed on checks. 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. And it goes without saying, never print your SS number or SIN on anything, especially checks. If you have it printed, anyone can get it.
5\\ Don’t keep it with you.
Unless you really need to keep a certain card with you (ie. Driver’s Licence) consider leaving it at home. You don’t need your Social Insurance Card with you at all times, and you can easily carry a photocopy of your health card instead of the real thing.
6\\ Know what you can lose.
Place the contents of your wallet on a photocopy machine. Do both sides of each license, credit card, debit card, etc. This way, if your wallet is ever stolen, 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 a good idea to carry a photocopy of your passport when you travel either here or abroad. We’ve all heard horror stories about fraud that’s committed on us in stealing a name, address, Social Security number, credit cards.
The unthinkable has happened.
So, you’ve taken all these precautions, but, as fate would have it, your wallet is stolen. Within a week, the thieves order an expensive monthly cell phone package, apply for a VISA credit card, have a credit line approved to buy a Gateway computer, received a PIN number from DMV to change you driving record information online, and more terrible crimes. Much of the damage has been done, but here’s some critical information to limit the damage, and remember, the faster you get going, the less the extent of fraud and credit theft will be.
1\\ Cancel the cards.
We have been told we should cancel our credit cards immediately. But what can you do if you can’t find anyone to talk to? Keep the numbers for your company(s) where you can find them.
2\\ Call the police.
File a police report immediately in the jurisdiction where your wallet was stolen. This proves to credit providers you were diligent, and this is a first step toward an investigation. (if there ever even is one.)
But here’s what is perhaps most important of all :
3\\ Alert the big 3.
Call the 3 national credit reporting organizations immediately to place a fraud alert on your name and Social Security number/SIN. Most people don’t think about this, but if criminals have all your information, they can easily create a new credit card, which you won’t know about immediately. They can use this card to continue to steal from you even after you have recovered or canceled the first card. 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.
This is important because if the credit theives wreck their havoc for a week or so, then are caught/card is canceled, they can’t just pull out their new credit card in your name and start buying again.
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
You can also call the Social Security Administration (fraud line): 1-800-269-0271
Live in Canada? Here’s the numbers you should call:
1\ Equifax Canada: 1-800-465-7166
2\ TransUnion Canada: 1-800-663-9980
