STEPS TO PROTECT YOUR CREDIT

1. Do not sign the back of your credit cards. This just gives thieves an opportunity to use your signature. 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” or “Memo” line. Instead, but put the last four numbers, as the credit card company knows the rest of the number, and any person who might be tempted to steal and use your credit card number will not be able to get it in the processing channel.

3. Put your work telephone number on your checks instead of your home telephone number. Use a Post Office Box (P.O. Box) if you can for the address. Never have your Social Security Number printed on your checks. All of these items have been stolen from check processing companies by unscrupulous employees, and used to charge-up expensive items in someone else’s name.

4. Place all of the contents of your wallet on a photocopy machine. Photocopy both sides of your Driver’s License, credit cards, and other important documents. You will then know what was in your wallet, and have all the account numbers and telephone numbers to call to cancel should your wallet ever be stolen. Make sure to keep the photocopy in a safe and secure place.

5. Carry a photocopy of your Passport when you travel either in the States or abroad.

6. Use the toll-free numbers for the credit industry to cancel your cards, instead of the numbers on the back of the cards. You need to keep the numbers where you can find them. Those numbers are as follows:

• Equifax 1-800-525-6285

• Experian 1-888-397-3742

• TransUnion 1-800-680-7289

• Social Security Administration 1-800-269-0271

All of these companies or government entities can immediately put a fraud alert on all of your credit, which will protect you in the event someone tries to use it.

7. File a police report immediately in the jurisdiction where your credit cards were stolen. This will prove to the credit issuers that you have been diligent, and is the first step into an investigation, if one is pursued, which is an increasingly rare outcome of an identity theft.