Hopefully, you never become a victim of identity theft.
To prevent identity theft from happening to you, here
are some helpful tips:
• Order your credit report:
Regularly monitoring your credit report is the most
important step you can take to safeguard your credit and
limit the harm an identity thief might cause.
Nevadans can obtain a FREE copy of their credit reports
compiled by each of the three national credit reporting
agencies. A federal law entitles you to one free copy of
your credit report from each credit reporting agency
every twelve months. If you stagger your
requests, you can monitor your credit record as often as
every four months at absolutely no cost to you.
More resources
Keep in mind, however, there is only one authorized
source to get a free credit report under federal law.
Just go to
www.annualcreditreport.com, call toll-free
1-877-322-8228, or write to P.O. Box 105281, Atlanta,
Georgia 30348-5281.
• Never give out personal or financial information over
the phone.
• Thoroughly review all financial statements for any
unusual activity. Immediately contact the company if an
item looks suspicious.
• Shred or destroy credit card statements, bills,
insurance papers or bank statements before throwing them
out.
• When making a credit card purchase, ask for the
carbons if the retailer is not using carbonless forms.
• Carry only one or two credit cards in your wallet.
• Cancel all unused credit card accounts.
• Ask about information security procedures in your
workplace. Find out who has access to your personal
information and verify that records are kept in a secure
location. Ask about the disposal procedures for those
records as well.
• Do not carry your Social Security Card in your wallet.
• If you think an identity thief is using your Social
Security number, call the Social Security Fraud Hotline
at (800) 269-0271.
• Remove your name from the marketing lists of
credit-reporting agencies by calling the Credit
Reporting Industry opt-out phone number: (888) 567-8688.
• Remove your name from mailing lists by contacting the
Direct Marketing Association at:
Mail Preference Service
Attention: Dept. 9301235
Direct Marketing Association
P.O. Box 643
Carmel, NY 10512
• Be wary of anyone calling to “confirm” personal or
financial information. Often, these are criminals trying
to obtain those facts under the guise of “confirmation”.
• Release your Social Security number only when
absolutely necessary or when required by law.
• When creating passwords and PINS, do not use anything
that could be discovered easily by thieves.
• Memorize all your passwords and PINS.
• Keep a list or photocopy of all your credit cards, so
you can quickly contact your creditors in case your
cards are lost or stolen. Do the same with bank
accounts.
• Never toss ATM and credit card receipts in a public
trash container.
• Watch the mail when you are expecting a new credit
card. Immediately contact the issuer if the credit card
does not arrive.
• Avoid paying by credit card if you think the business
does not use adequate safeguards to protect your
personal information.
• Be careful before you use a credit card or supply
personal information online.
