How Can I Protect My Identity

How Can I Protect My Identity And Personal Information?

Preventing non-electronic theft:

	Short Description	Details
1.	Protect your Social Security Number (SSN).	Many forms you fill out in your life will ask for your SSN, but only the Social Security Administration and entities which report information to the IRS on your behalf (employers, financial institutions, mortgage companies, etc.) require your SSN. All the others just want the SSN to use as a unique ID. Don’t give it to them!
2.	Protect your credit cards.	Do not sign the back of your credit cards. Instead, write "Photo ID Required" in the space normally reserved for your signature.
3.	Protect your credit card number.	When you write a check to pay your credit card bill, do not write the full account number (credit card number) on the check. Just write the last four digits. The credit card company knows the complete number, but all the people who handle your check as it passes through the payment process won’t know it.
4.	Limit what you carry on your person.	Is it really necessary to carry several credit cards, several retail store charge cards, and a bank debit card in your wallet or purse? Or are a single credit card and your debit card enough? You want to minimize what can be stolen or what you need to report as stolen if your wallet or purse are ever stolen or misplaced.
5.	Plan for theft.	Keep a record of all of your credit card numbers, charge card numbers, debit card numbers, etc. With each card number, record the phone number to call to cancel the account or report the card stolen. I go one step further. I document the necessary information for every financial institution with whom I have an account (banks, stock brokerage accounts, insurance agencies, etc.). I keep the data on removable media (CD or floppy disk) and not on my computer lest my computer be stolen. I do not label the removable media as containing sensitive data lest someone go out of their way to steal it.
6.	Plan for theft.	Record the following contact information for the three major credit reporting agencies and the Social Security Administration so that you can report to them if your identity is ever stolen: Equifax: 800-525-6285 Experian (formerly TRW): 888-397-3742 Trans Union: 800-680-7289 Social Security Administration (fraud line): 800-269-0271

Preventing theft over the air waves:

	Short Description	Details
1.	Don’t discuss sensitive information if you or the person your are speaking with is on a cell phone or a wireless telephone.	Cell and wireless phones are not secure forms of communication. Though not commonplace, other people can snoop on those conversations and steal information.
2.	Beware of the use of camera phones.	People can use camera phones to take pictures of your checks and credit cards when you’re paying for items in stores and restaurants.
3.	Beware of the credit card switch.	When dealing with a retail merchant, if your credit card or debit card ever leaves your sight, make sure that the card returned to you is your card. Some crooks will switch your card with a similar-looking card.

Preventing theft over the internet:

	Short Description	Details
1.	Don’t discuss sensitive information in an email.	Email is not a secure form of communication. Though not commonplace, other people can intercept your email and steal information.
2.	Don’t input sensitive information on non-secure web sites.	In the “address bar” on your web browser (where the web site address is displayed), the first characters in the web site address are either http:// or https://. The “s” is critical! HTTP is a non-secure (non-encrypted) protocol. HTTPS is a secure (encrypted) protocol. Only input sensitive information (such as passwords, account numbers, etc.) on web sites using the HTTPS protocol.
3.	Beware of phishing scams.	Without fail, the email from the “phisher” will contain a link to a web site for you to login to your financial account. One of the easiest ways to identify a phishing scam is to place the mouse pointer over the link and see if the web site being pointed to is the same as the web site in the text address. Use this link as an example: http://www.paypal.com/login.htm. The link looks like it should direct you to Paypal’s website (www.paypal.com). But if you place your moise pointer over the text of the link and look at the status bar of your browser, you’ll see it actually will direct you to a different web site (www.thisisatrick.com). Click here to see examples of real phishing scam emails.
4.	Choose strong passwords for all of your online accounts which contain personal or financial information, such as your account with your bank, Pay Pal, etc.	A strong password is difficult to guess. A weak password is easy to guess. Some rules for strong passwords: 1. Never use common words or names as any part of your password. For example, "michael" and "doghouse" are weak passwords. 2. A strong password should have a mixture of upper case letters, lower case letters and numbers. For example: "Mx37aRp" is a strong password. 3. The strongest passwords also use one of the following special characters: "#", "_", "$", "@", "%", "&". 4. A common practice is to use a common word as your password but substitute numbers for letters and mix case. For example, use the word "football" as your password but spell it like "F00tba11" with the number "0" instead of the letter "o" and the number "1" instead of the letter "l". 5. Another common practice is to use the first letter of each word from a phrase as an acronym for your password. For instance, choose the first letter of each word from the phrase "My favorite football team is da Chicago Bears" to create the password "Mfftidcb".
5.	Never use the same password for more than one online account.	Choose a unique, strong password for each online account. If a password for one account becomes compromised, all of your other accounts are still safe.