TOP FIVE THINGS TO DO TO

AVOID IDENTITY THEFT

5)  Make sure you sign up with a credit monitor – a company that will send you your credit report once a quarter and advise you immediately if any new accounts are opened in your name.

4)  Online shopping is now a way of life; use only one credit card for it.  Never use a bank check card!  Get a credit card with no annual fee, and a low limit.  Even though the credit companies will tell you that you are legally only liable for $50 in damages, it will cost you about $14K in legal fees to prove you did not authorize the purchases.

3)  Shred everything!  Buy a crosscut shredder (not the strip type but the confetti type) and shred any type of loan, credit card, or other financial offer that has your name pre-printed on it.  Shred any mail that is not a bill.

2)  Buy a safe and bolt it to the closet floor.  Keep anything that can be used against you in there; checkbooks, passports, old drivers licenses...you get the idea.  I even have my home pc setup so that if I am going to be gone for an extended period I can remove a USB hard drive (this has all the good stuff on it), and I lock it in the safe as well.  Safes are not thief (or fool) proof.  But they will at least make it a lot harder for someone to steal your identity.  And remember if you end up in court, the more you can show that you tried to mitigate the problem, the nicer the judge is going to be to you!

1)  If you think something has happened, report it!  I cannot stress this enough.  We see people at the office every day that come in and say that their purse or wallet was stolen a couple of months ago, and they think they might have a problem now.  When it happens, report it right away.  And if the Cop that is taking the report is giving you attitude, kindly remind him/her that it could have just as easily have happened to them as well.

If you do nothing else, please at least follow step #2.  It is a pretty inexpensive way to buy some piece of mind.  One more thing:  Don't buy the crappy safes at Office Depot and similar stores.  Go to a locksmith and spend the cash on a good strong fire safe.  One last thing:  For the really important stuff, like birth certificates, house titles, and stuff that you don't need access to every day, but would be a real pain if you lost it, get a safe deposit box at the bank.  They are cheap in comparison to the amount of time and money you will lay out if you have to replace them.