Identity Theft How to Protect Your Name (19 page)

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D E T E C T I N G S S N M I S U S E

Currently, federal law places no restrictions on the use of the SSN by the private sector. People may be asked for an SSN for such things as renting a video, getting medical services, joining a gym and applying for public utilities. If you refuse to give it, you might not be able to get the product or service.

One way that you can find out whether someone is misusing your number is to check your earnings records. About three months before your birthday, anyone
25 or older
and not already receiving Social Security benefits, automatically receives a Social Security statement each year. The statement lists earnings posted to your Social Security record as well as providing an estimate of benefits and other Social Security facts about the program. If there is a mistake in the earnings posted, you are asked to contact the SSA so your record can be corrected. The SSA investigates, corrects the earnings record and if appropriate, it refers any suspected misuse of an SSN to the appropriate authorities.

Order your
Social Security Earnings and Benefits
Statement
once a year to check for fraud. You can order the statement by calling (800) 772-1213.

The SSA may learn about misused SSNs in a variety
of other ways—including alerts from their computer
systems while matching federal and state data, processing wages, claims or post entitlement actions,
reports from individuals contacting its field offices
or teleservice centers and inquiries from the IRS con-178

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cerning two or more individuals with the same SSN

on their income tax returns.

If your Social Security number has been used fraudulently, call the SSA’s Fraud Hotline, (800) 269-0271. In extreme cases of fraud, it may be possible for you to get a new number.

O T H E R I T E M S I N Y O U R W A L L E T

What else is in your wallet? If you were to lose your wallet today, there’s probably a lot to worry about.

Place the contents of your
wallet on a photocopy
machine
. Copy both sides of each license, credit card,
etc.
This way you will know what you had in your wallet should it get lost or stolen. You will have all of the account numbers and phone numbers to call and cancel. Keep the photocopy in a safe place. Otherwise, you may give someone your entire identity in one neat package.

Along with leaving out your SSN, dump bank account numbers, personal identification numbers (PINs), passports and birth certificates. Leave those in a
fireproof box at home
—never in your wallet.

Don’t carry more blank checks than you need in your wallet, either. If your SSN is on your driver’s license, ask your state for a new number and license (if possible).

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Quick Tips

•

Never leave your purse or wallet unat-tended in public or in open view in your car.

•

Keep checks in a secure place and destroy them when you close a checking account.

•

Never give credit card, bank or Social Security information over the telephone.

•

Minimize exposure of your Social Security number.

•

Safeguard your credit, debit and ATM

card receipts and shred them before disposing of them.

•

Check your
utility and subscription
bills
to make sure the charges are yours.

•

Memorize your passwords
and personal identification numbers and don’t keep them near your credit cards.

•

Keep a list of, or copy, all credit and identification cards you carry so you can quickly call the issuers to inform them about missing or stolen cards.

•

A form to stop credit and insurance offers from being sent to you is available at
www.ag.state.mi.us/cp/cp_form02.pdf
•

A form to remove your name from telephone and mailing lists is available at
www.dmaconsumers.org/privacy.html.

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H A N D L I N G C R E D I T C A R D S

Cancel any credit cards you don’t really need or use; open credit is a prime target. Keep
good back-up
information
about your accounts, just in case your wallet is lost or stolen. Consider using a service to handle replacement of cards, provide fraud liability protection and deliver expert advice on protecting yourself and your credit following a loss or theft (more on this later). If you ever need to give personal information out over the phone, ensure the person on the other end of the line is well-known and trusted. You should have initiated the call. Avoid providing personal information when using a check or plastic for purchases at a cash register.

Before offering a company any personal data, ask
how it will be used and whether any of it will be
shared with third parties. If you’re unsure who’s
called you, ask for their number—so you can call
them back at the company’s office. A law passed in
1999 permits financial institutions to sell or aggre-gate your data unless you expressly ask them not to
do so—usually by choosing the “opt-out” selection
on your print or online forms. After opting out, follow up to make sure the company honors your request.

Shred credit card applications you receive in the mail along with bank statements, 401(k), stock and mutual fund statements and any other financial documents.

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Review your credit card bills and your checking account statements as soon as they arrive, to ensure that no fraudulent activity is taking place. If a statement does not arrive, that could be a sign that someone has changed your billing address for fraudulent purposes.

Retain all
duplicates of your receipts
when making a purchase and retain receipts from ATM withdrawals. Do not put your credit card account number on checks used to pay your monthly bills. The credit card agency can always trace your check through your name/address information from your check.

When applying for a credit card,
check the return
address
. If there is a sticker with a return address placed on the application, contact the card issuing company to verify the correct address.

Take care how you dispose of receipts, copies of a
credit application, insurance forms, bank checks,
brokerage statements and unsolicited credit offers.

Consider shredding them before leaving them in the
trash. Do not write your card number on a postcard
notifying you that you have won a prize or gift and
requesting the number as part of the award arrangements. Do not leave gasoline credit card receipts at the pump.

No federal law requires merchants to block out credit card numbers, although Congress is considering legislation. One bill would ban the printing of more than the
card’s last five numbers
on a cardholder’s receipt. Printing the expiration date also would be pro-182

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hibited. About 10 states already have enacted trunca-tion laws, including Arizona, Washington, Missouri and California.

More Quick Tips
•

Don’t give your checking account number to people you don’t know, even if they claim they are from your bank.

•

Reveal checking account information only to businesses you know to be reputable.

•

Report lost or stolen checks immediately.

•

Properly store or dispose of cancelled checks and
guard new checks
.

•

Report any inquiries or suspicious behavior to your banker who will take measures to protect your account and notify proper authorities.

•

Do not leave your automated teller machine receipt at the ATM; it contains account information.

•

Check your bank statements carefully and often.

•

Use
direct deposit
(if possible).

The next time you order pre-printed checks, only have your initials, instead of your full name, printed on the checks. If someone takes your checkbook, they will not know if you sign your checks with just your initials or your full name. But your bank will know how
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you sign them. Don’t have your phone number printed on your checks.

If you have a P.O. Box, have that address printed on the checks. If you work, you might want to use your employment address. Otherwise, it would be safer not to have a pre-printed address on the checks.

CNN weather person Orelon Sidney ordered a box of checks that he never got. Then the company sent out a second box of checks that he did get—but the first box had been intercepted and soon enough, Sidney started seeing checks clearing for $1,000 and $600 and $900. It not only took Sidney a long time to realize the problem, but correcting the issue with the bank, the credit bureaus and the collection agencies after him took a long time.

Avoid this scenario by always
picking up new boxes
of checks
at your bank.

R E V I E W I N G C R E D I T R E P O R T S

Review your credit reports from each of the three national credit reporting agencies at least twice a year.

You are entitled to a free copy of your credit report if you are unemployed, on welfare, were recently denied credit or if your report is inaccurate because of fraud. (Otherwise, there is a small fee.) In addition to your debts and payment history, credit reporting agencies also provide: general data (name, SSN, mari-tal status, addresses—past and present); employer’s name and address; inquiries of your credit file; and public record information like bankruptcies and liens.

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Credit reporting agencies do not, however, maintain files regarding your race, religion, medical history or criminal record—if you have one.

Review your report carefully to make sure no unauthorized charges were made on your existing accounts and that no fraudulent accounts or loans were established in your name. Unfortunately, credit agencies and FICO scores, respond slowly to remedy credit rating effects of ID theft. This is where most of the
lasting
damage
happens.

Below, you’ll find the information you need to access all three major credit bureaus.

The Big Three Credit Bureaus:
Equifax
(
www.equifax.com
) •

To dispute information in your report, write to: Equifax Service Center ATTN: Dispute Department, P.O. Box 740256, Atlanta, GA 30374.

•

To order a credit report, call: (800) 685-1111

•

Or mail: P.O. Box 470241, Atlanta, GA 30374 ATTN: Disclosure Department.

•

To remove your name from pre-approved offers of credit and marketing lists, call (888) 567-8688 or write to: Equifax Options, P.O. Box 740123, Atlanta, GA 30374-0123.

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Experian
(
www.experian.com
) •

To order a credit report, call: (888) 397-3742.

•

Or write to: P.O. Box 9066, Allen, TX

75013.

•

To dispute information in your report, call (800) 493-1058 or write to: P.O. Box 9556, Allen, TX 75013.

•

To remove your name from pre-approved offers of credit cards, call (800) 567-8688. To remove your name from marketing lists, call (800) 407-1088.

TransUnion
(
www.tuc.com
) •

To order a credit report, call: (800) 916-8800

•

Or write to: Trans Union LLC, Consumer Disclosure Center, P.O. Box 1000, Chester, PA 19022.

•

To dispute information in your report, call: (800) 916-8800.

•

To have your name removed from pre-approved offers of credit and marketing lists, call (888) 567-8688 or write to: Trans Union LLC’s Name Removal Option, P.O. Box 97328, Jackson, MS

39288-7328.

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I N S U R A N C E A N D S E R V I C E S

In 2002, federal prosecutors charged three men with operating an identitytheft ring that had stolen credit reports of more than 30,000 people—the largest case in history. The defendants include a computer help-desk employee at a Long Island software outfit who had access to sensitive passwords for banks and credit companies. The ring allegedly emptied bank accounts, took out loans with stolen identities and ran up fraudulent charges on credit cards.

Most of the damage could easily have been prevented if the credit agencies adopted the common-sense practice of directly notifying individuals whenever a change on his or her report occurs, and whenever a third party accesses their credit report. But they don’t.

Because ID theft has become a well-known problem, companies are responding by offering insurance to ease the burden.
Identitytheft services
from the credit card agencies and bureaus is also a burgeoning business.

Travelers Insurance of Hartford, Conn., first offered
an identitytheft policy in 1999. Other insurance companies have followed, adding coverage to their basic
homeowners policies or as riders. ID theft coverage
pays for the time and money it takes you to complete the logistical and legal paperwork. This can
include lost wages, notary public fees, Federal Express or other kinds of packaging and mailing. In
some instances, legal expenses can be covered.

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Check your
current policies for existing coverage
, as a homeowners or renters insurance policy might already contain some coverage. If you want coverage, ask your current insurance company for information about adding coverage to existing policies, or if you need to purchase a stand alone policy.