To avoid identity theft, keep your personal information safe

• Shred or tear up any information that contains your social security or driver’s license number. Also shred pre-approved credit card offers, bank statements, cancelled checks and credit card checks before you throw them away.
• Call any creditors if a statement or bill is more than a few days late to verify billing address and account balances. It’s possible that someone could have redirected your mail in an attempt to steal your identity.
• Do not give your personal information over the phone, unless you initiate the call.
• Monitor your bank and credit card statements for any unusual activity. Report any unauthorized charges immediately.
• DO NOT carry your social security card on your person!
• Review your credit report at least once a year to ensure all accounts are valid and are updated as they should be.

If you are a frequent visitor to the Internet (and at this point I suspect you are *grins*), you also need to be cautious of online schemes to steal your information. To use the Internet safely, exercise caution in the following:

• E-mails: If you aren’t new to the realm of electronic mail, chances are you’re familiar with the term "spam".  If you think it’s a meat product from a can, skip ahead.. chances are you aren’t at risk.. If you know it to be annoying emails that do everything from try to sell you a product (remember Mom’s advice: if it sounds too good to be true, it probably is) or redirect you to less than kosher websites (think of Mom), then you may be a potential victim of identity theft via "phishing".  Phishing is the fraudulent scheme of sending an e-mail to a user falsely claiming to be a legitimate company.  The e-mail attempts to con the user into surrendering private information by directing them to what appears to be a legitimate web site for the company. At this web site, the user is typically asked to update personal information, such as name, account numbers, credit card numbers, social security number, passwords and other information.  The web site is phony and is set up only to steal consumer information. This author has seen some of these emails purporting to be from eBay and PayPal.  They’re quite convincing, but you mustn’t believe them!
• Online Purchases: If you use the Internet to purchase goods (just couldn’t pass up that great deal on irregular t-shirts?), then be sure the web sites you frequent use a secure checkout procedure.  Look for the "lock" icon on the browser status bar that signals your information is encrypted during transmission.

If someone does use your information to establish credit fraudulently, report it to the police as soon as you become aware.  This is the first step towards any possible investigation, and illustrates to your genuine creditors that you were diligent in addressing the matter.  You should also contact one of the three credit reporting agencies to request that a fraud alert and consumer statement be placed on your file.  As soon as the fraud alert is verified, this agency will alert the other two and a free credit report will be sent to you from each of the three credit reporting agencies.  This alert will caution prospective creditors that your information was used falsely, and they will therefore contact you directly before issuing further credit in your name.  The web site addresses for these agencies are as follows:

Experian www.experian.com / Equifax www.equifax.com / Trans Union www.transunion.com

You can also contact the Social Security Administration’s Fraud Hotline at 800-269-0271 to report unauthorized use of your personal identification number, and should also contact your State Department of Motor Vehicles to ensure that a falsified license number has not been issued in your name.

For a free consumer guide to guarding against, and recovering from, identity theft, contact the Federal Trade Commission ("FTC") at www.consumer.gov/idtheft for a copy of ID Theft: When Bad Things Happen to Your Good Name.