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- YOUR QUARTERLY CREDIT CHECK-UP. Check your Credit Reports Quarterly. Put it in your calendar, rotating between the three bureaus. Treat it just like you would a medical check up: See: www.annualcreditreport.com
- GET INOCULATED. Make sure your computer’s Anti-Virus/Firewall products and computer security patches are current. Each day, as consumers click on links within unsolicited emails, computers are invaded by Trojan viruses, botnets and keyloggers. Be aware and protect yourself!
- GO PAPERLESS. Receive your statements online. Pay your bills online. This keeps your account information from passing through multiple hands in the postal service, your bank, or wherever you are mailing your payments. An added benefit is that by using Billpay products you'll check your bank account more regularly, rather than once a month when your statement arrives in the mail.
- SHRED OR STORE your statements, receipts, tax documents, etc. Sadly, studies show that over 50% of identity fraud is perpetrated by someone you know: family members, workers in the home, or friends of the family. Don’t make it easy for them to access your personal information.
- AND SHRED SOME MORE Shred or tear into small pieces the pre-approved solicitations for credit cards you receive from banks. How many of those do you receive in an average week?
- WALLETS BELONG IN POCKETS Do not leave your purse or your wallet in your car. You’re just asking for someone to Slim Jim your car door open.
- PURSES BELONG ON ARMS Women: don’t leave your purse in your shopping cart while you’re in the store. One second of your back being turned to pick up a bottle of ketchup can result in your wallet having been lifted from your purse.
- IT’S IN THE MAIL Retrieve paper mail promptly and if you are not using online banking place outgoing checks and/or other sensitive documents in a U.S. Postal Service mailbox. Don’t leave them pinned to your mailbox or in an easily accessed box by the side of the road with the flag up. It is just as easy for crooks to pick up your mail, as it is your mailman.
- THOROUGHLY DELETE Don't discard a computer without deleting all sensitive data – beware – this isn’t as easy as it might sound. If someone is motivated, and has the skills, it isn’t that difficult to recover ‘deleted’ files.
- KEEP THOSE NUMBERS TO YOURSELF Do not release Social Security or account numbers, particularly to those requesting such information by e-mail or phone unless YOU initiated the communication.
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