10 Ways to Stop Identity Theft Cold

Here's a piece from Money Central that gives us 10 ways to stop identity theft cold. It starts out by telling us how bad identity theft is:

The numbers associated with identity theft are beginning to add up fast. A recent General Accounting Office report estimates that as many as 750,000 Americans are victims of identity theft every year. And that number may be low, as many people choose not to report the crime or, for that matter, even know they’ve been victimized.

But the heart of the article is the set of tips they give. The tips for stopping identity theft are:

1. Destroy private records and statements.

2. Secure your mail.

3. Safeguard your Social Security number.

4. Don't leave a paper trail. Never leave ATM, credit card or gas station receipts behind.

5. Never let your credit card out of your sight.

6. Know who you're dealing with.

7. Take your name off marketers' hit lists.

8. Be more defensive with personal information.

9. Monitor your credit report.

10. Review your credit card statements carefully.

My thoughts:

1. I have a shredder and use it religiously.

2. We mail our bills from home but never put up our mailbox flag. However, I am converting more bills to electronic pay options.

3. We don't do this.

4. We don't do this either. I keep track of EVERY receipt.

5. This is hard to do, especially at restaurants (the card part). Not sure what the solution is.

6. I don't give out this information unless I see a need that they have it.

7. Did it awhile back. We still get some calls.

8. Isn't this the same as #6? My answer is the same.

9. This is one of my New Year's resolutions.

10. I reconcile every credit card statement and review all bills carefully. Not only does it help identify potential identity theft issues, but can also save you a bunch of money.

Comments

[John Koontz]

Regarding #9 - You can easily do this because you are entitled to one free credit report per year from each of the three credit reporting companies. I check each company once a year, but I space them out by 4 months. In effect, it's like those monitoring services all the credit companies try to get you to pay for.

One more tip. I put a reminder in MS Outlook so I never forget.