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Will You Add? - Keeping Your Soul Safe: How to Prevent Identity Theft
This sounds simple, but to control your expenses you first must understand what they are. The only way to be sure you know what you spend is to record everything. This is hard to do. Then you will need to do something even more difficult, Sacrifice and Live on a Budget.Ouch, all people including you and me hate those two words. But it will take sacrifice to get out of debt. The good news is that it will be worth it.Every time you make a sacrifice and stay on budget you will be investing in your future. Always keep that in mind. Every step you make towards getting out of debt means you are closer to having your money work for you.The major expenses you can control on a day to day budget are:General Expenses It could be music equipment, car washes, computer games, anything. Any things you can figure out which are not your needs. Maybe there isn't anything you can think of, but there probably is. Maybe at least once a month, when you go to buy something on impulse, you force yourself not to do it.Food Expenses Stop going out to eat. This will be a huge sacrifice for most, but you have to stop going out to eat;it's too expensive. You need to bring your lunch to work and, if you have a Starbuck's addiction, stop buying $2 cups of coffee. Many people can save $50 a month just by brewing their own coffee, another $100 by bringing their lunch to work, and another $200 by not going out to eat for dinner.Clothing Expenses Always decide what you are going to purchase before you go into the store and stick to it. Do all your "shopping" at home. If you truly need a new jacket because the old one has a hole in it and it's really cold outside then you can go get a jacket. But don't start looking around for the skirts and hats while you are there. Get the jacket and run!Entertainment Expenses You like to have fun and you need to have fun. However, if you are in debt then, you need to sacrifice at least one major entertainment expense a month. Whatever it is you like to do (movies, concerts, plays, o
- NEVER print your social security number on the check - even if asked to by a store clerk. They cannot require it.
- Don't print your phone number (you can get driving directions to your house with just your phone number)
- Print only your first initial, keeping thieves from knowing either your full name or how you sign your checks
- Use a PO Box address, or a work address.
- Do not write your entire account number on the check when paying credit card bills. Instead, attach a payment coupon and only write the last four numbers on the check. This way, anyone handling your check does not have access to the whole card number.
- Never keep passwords or PIN numbers in your wallet. Even if you don't indicate which card it is, all a thief has to do is keep trying each card.
- Sign up for the Telemarketer Do Not Call list at www.donotcall.gov
- Sign up for blocking your personal information from being released by the driver's license department. For Florida, the website is www.hsmv.state.fl.us and click on "The Driver Privacy Protection Act"
- Copy both sides of everything in your wallet. In case it is lost or stolen, you need the card numbers AND the phone numbers to call in that t
Velvet is the new black. Anyone who has ever picked up a fashion magazine will have read something like that.But what does it really mean.Let me lay out for you the formula behind this very cleaver marketing idea.1.Consumers and women in general always what to be at the cutting edge of fashion and home decorating.To have the hottest look before anyone else, right. So if you announce that velvet flowers and beaded lampshades in a vintage style are the coming trend consumers will start looking for just those items.2.Inside knowledge is like a secret that nobody else knows.The thinking behind this is "maybe I was the only one who read that article about a return to romance and vintage velvet style..."3.By creating a buzz around your product you cut down on the amount of advertising you need to do because you customers do it for you by "letting others in on the hot new trend"4.Always make sure that your product is unique and different from whats hot at the time. e.g "Minimalist Interiors" and the soft vintage "Velvet Attic" style. Point out the advantages to your new product.5.Always look for a chance for product placement even if this means a few give always.In short use what nature has given us a strong desire to be curious and a drive to be at the fore front of fashion.For examples of the new velvet style go to www.thevelvetattic.com.au before you know it everyone else will and you will be wondering why you missed the boat on this hot new fashion statement.
Facts and Statistics:
-Up to 700,000 people in the United States may be victimized by identity bandits each year, according to the Justice Dept (during press release 2002 FTC Study)
-Over 500,000,000 fraudulent checks are written each year
-The Secret Service estimates that in 1997, consumers lost more than $745 million due to identity theft
-A recent report on identity theft warned that there is likely to be "mass victimization" of consumers within the next several years.
-Every 79 seconds, a thief steals someone's identity, opens accounts in the victim's name, and goes on a buying spree. (CBSnews.com, 1/24/01)
- Florida is the number 4 top state for identity theft (CA, NY, TX, FL, IL) in number of victims.
-Types of Identity Theft:
-- Financial Fraud
--- Debit & ATM fraud
--- Checking account fraud
--- Savings account fraud
--- Store credit account fraud
--- Loan account fraud
--- Mortgage account fraud
-- Identity Cloning (uses your credit rating to live a separate life
-- Other crimes
--- Drug trafficking
--- Smuggling
--- Illegal entry into other countrie
--- Terrorism
--- Money laundering
--- Computer crimes
--- Shoplifting
--- Burglary
How your ID gets stolen:
- Credit cards: Every time you use your credit card, in person, on the phone, or on the Internet, there is a risk that an unscrupulous person may make off with your card details. Locations where staff turnover is high, such as restaurants, bars, and telemarketing companies, are especially high risk. Some thieves sell servers a small 'skimmer' that attaches to the inside of a jacket or coat, and will read a credit card when swiped. The server can then sell this 'skimmer' for $2000 after he's swiped 20 cards.
- Don't Trash It: Unshredded bank statements, credit card solicitations, account statements and other discarded mail is a target.
- Beware of the Workplace: Many times fellow employees steal sensitive information from unsecured personnel files, desks, or trash cans.
- Help Desk Impersonators: Sometimes an innocent call from your phone company, bank, insurance company or broker can be a cover for ID theft. Beware of anyone who needs to verify your address or SSN by YOU supplying the information.
- Check alteration: A recent case involved a man going to each 'flagged' mailbox and taking out checks being mailed to GTE. He changed the Payee to G.T. Edwards, opened an account with a fake ID, and cashed the checks. IRS can easily be changed to 'MRS. XXXX'
- Fraudulent Check Printing: Whether by making color copies of an existing check and altering it or printing fake checks on purchased or stolen check stock, this crime is rising rapidly. There is check-printing software available, and many businesses and individuals now print their own checks.
- Checks Stolen: There are several ways a thief can obtain what he needs to create his own checks with your information:
-- Stealing bank statements with cancelled checks from your home or mailbox
-- Making a copy of a check you've sent out
-- If you own a business, a scanned copy of your incorporation papers may be available online at www.myflorida.com. If so, it may have your signature on it, available for anyone to copy.
- Friends and Family: Many cases of ID theft and fraud are committed by family members, friends and roommates
- The Media: Your ID can even be stolen by someone who learned about you from a news story, or your company's brochure.
- Unlike most crimes, it's up to YOU to prove yourself innocent and restore your good name and credit. This process can take years and a lot of your own money. In the case of check fraud, you have 60 days to discover something wrong on your bank statements. After that, the bank assumes no liability. The person who is "in the best position to prevent the fraud" is held liable.
- While financial and commercial organizations must exonerate you if their debts were incurred by an impersonator, it is imperative that you act quickly to clear the responsibility for these debts from your name.
- One of the biggest victim complaints is that law enforcement sometimes refuses to take a crime report in identity theft cases. Without a police report, credit issuers simply do not believe that someone else is at fault. Further complicating the process is the fact that identity theft crimes committed in your name may often span several jurisdictions.
Things to do NOW
- Whenever you order checks, do the following:
- NEVER print your social security number on the check - even if asked to by a store clerk. They cannot require it.
- Don't print your phone number (you can get driving directions to your house with just your phone number)
- Print only your first initial, keeping thieves from knowing either your full name or how you sign your checks
- Use a PO Box address, or a work address.
- Do not write your entire account number on the check when paying credit card bills. Instead, attach a payment coupon and only write the last four numbers on the check. This way, anyone handling your check does not have access to the whole card number.
- Never keep passwords or PIN numbers in your wallet. Even if you don't indicate which card it is, all a thief has to do is keep trying each card.
- Sign up for the Telemarketer Do Not Call list at www.donotcall.gov
- Sign up for blocking your personal information from being released by the driver's license department. For Florida, the website is www.hsmv.state.fl.us and click on "The Driver Privacy Protection Act"
- Copy both sides of everything in your wallet. In case it is lost or stolen, you need the card numbers AND the phone numbers to call in that th
Bloggers are painfully aware of website owners who try to improve their website's rank by adding links to blogs. There are several strategies for combating this problem. The first and most obvious method is to avoid free blogger sites. These are favorite targets for comment spam.Bloggers who own their own software can add a no-follow tag. The rel=nofollow tag does not stop the spam, but it does stop robots from following the link. Blogger, owned by Google, implements these tags already. Wordpress has anti-comment spam plug-ins to help bloggers stop comment spam.Do not bother banning the IP address - unplugging a computer for one hour can change the IP address, and changing a server's IP address is relatively easy. Some companies buy IP addresses in blocks of a hundred or more, and spammers also use open proxies. These are IP addresses that allow anyone access.Configuring a blog to prevent javascript and HTML code in replies is a solid and easy to implement method of attacking comment spam. It is possible to configure some blog software programs to automatically convert any string that starts with http:// into a url. This will not stop manual comment spams, but it will stop the crawlers.The spam crawlers search the web looking for descriptive form names. Field names like 'comment' or 'reply' make it too easy for comment spam crawlers to find a potential victim.Many blogs are using CAPTCHA (Completely Automated Public Turing Test to Tell Computers and Humans Apart). This new tool requires the user to post a text and number combination before their post is published. However, a simple trip to the freelance bidding forums already indicates that countries (Ukraine and India are the most obvious) are hiring people to do nothing but post comments all day. This undermines CAPTCHA tools anyway!There are two other methods that are available to most bloggers. The first is user authentication - this requires the person to sign up for a user name and password before publishing a post. This slows down comment spammers in two ways: (1) they must take an extra step before publishing, and (2) most authentication programs are configured to accept an ema
--- Loan account fraud
--- Mortgage account fraud
-- Identity Cloning (uses your credit rating to live a separate life
-- Other crimes
--- Drug trafficking
--- Smuggling
--- Illegal entry into other countrie
--- Terrorism
--- Money laundering
--- Computer crimes
--- Shoplifting
--- Burglary
How your ID gets stolen:
- Credit cards: Every time you use your credit card, in person, on the phone, or on the Internet, there is a risk that an unscrupulous person may make off with your card details. Locations where staff turnover is high, such as restaurants, bars, and telemarketing companies, are especially high risk. Some thieves sell servers a small 'skimmer' that attaches to the inside of a jacket or coat, and will read a credit card when swiped. The server can then sell this 'skimmer' for $2000 after he's swiped 20 cards.
- Don't Trash It: Unshredded bank statements, credit card solicitations, account statements and other discarded mail is a target.
- Beware of the Workplace: Many times fellow employees steal sensitive information from unsecured personnel files, desks, or trash cans.
- Help Desk Impersonators: Sometimes an innocent call from your phone company, bank, insurance company or broker can be a cover for ID theft. Beware of anyone who needs to verify your address or SSN by YOU supplying the information.
- Check alteration: A recent case involved a man going to each 'flagged' mailbox and taking out checks being mailed to GTE. He changed the Payee to G.T. Edwards, opened an account with a fake ID, and cashed the checks. IRS can easily be changed to 'MRS. XXXX'
- Fraudulent Check Printing: Whether by making color copies of an existing check and altering it or printing fake checks on purchased or stolen check stock, this crime is rising rapidly. There is check-printing software available, and many businesses and individuals now print their own checks.
- Checks Stolen: There are several ways a thief can obtain what he needs to create his own checks with your information:
-- Stealing bank statements with cancelled checks from your home or mailbox
-- Making a copy of a check you've sent out
-- If you own a business, a scanned copy of your incorporation papers may be available online at www.myflorida.com. If so, it may have your signature on it, available for anyone to copy.
- Friends and Family: Many cases of ID theft and fraud are committed by family members, friends and roommates
- The Media: Your ID can even be stolen by someone who learned about you from a news story, or your company's brochure.
- Unlike most crimes, it's up to YOU to prove yourself innocent and restore your good name and credit. This process can take years and a lot of your own money. In the case of check fraud, you have 60 days to discover something wrong on your bank statements. After that, the bank assumes no liability. The person who is "in the best position to prevent the fraud" is held liable.
- While financial and commercial organizations must exonerate you if their debts were incurred by an impersonator, it is imperative that you act quickly to clear the responsibility for these debts from your name.
- One of the biggest victim complaints is that law enforcement sometimes refuses to take a crime report in identity theft cases. Without a police report, credit issuers simply do not believe that someone else is at fault. Further complicating the process is the fact that identity theft crimes committed in your name may often span several jurisdictions.
Things to do NOW
- Whenever you order checks, do the following:
- NEVER print your social security number on the check - even if asked to by a store clerk. They cannot require it.
- Don't print your phone number (you can get driving directions to your house with just your phone number)
- Print only your first initial, keeping thieves from knowing either your full name or how you sign your checks
- Use a PO Box address, or a work address.
- Do not write your entire account number on the check when paying credit card bills. Instead, attach a payment coupon and only write the last four numbers on the check. This way, anyone handling your check does not have access to the whole card number.
- Never keep passwords or PIN numbers in your wallet. Even if you don't indicate which card it is, all a thief has to do is keep trying each card.
- Sign up for the Telemarketer Do Not Call list at www.donotcall.gov
- Sign up for blocking your personal information from being released by the driver's license department. For Florida, the website is www.hsmv.state.fl.us and click on "The Driver Privacy Protection Act"
- Copy both sides of everything in your wallet. In case it is lost or stolen, you need the card numbers AND the phone numbers to call in that t
If you’ve dreamed of becoming a store owner and are thinking about making the transition from working for someone to working for yourself, there are a few things you need to consider before making the move.The allure of “being your own boss” is very powerful, but actually succeeding at doing so can be elusive. To increase your chances of being successful you need to do your homework and really think about what you’re about to undertake. Running a business can be rewarding, but it is takes hard work. Below are some of the things you need to ask consider before you go any further.1.Get the FactsDo you know anything about the type of store you want to open? In other words, what kind of experience do you have? Have you worked in retail before? Or do you want to have a store because you like to “shop” or because you love “antiques”?Be realistic. If you’re lacking knowledge, educate yourself. Talk to people; read everything you can get your hands on about the type of store you want to open and the products you want to carry. Is there a demand for what you want to offer or is the market already flooded with like businesses?Know your competition. Who are they? What products do they sell? Who are they targeting? What would you offer that they don’t? How and where will you advertise? If you’re dreaming of your grand opening with masses of customers waiting in line because of your terrific location and great prices, think again. Although location is a big factor and lower pricing can help, those factors are not enough to sustain you. You need to have a plan. This brings us to the dreaded, yet necessary, business plan.2. It’s All in the Details…Everyone hates to do a business plan, but you should at least make an attempt. Even if you “guess” at your projections, it’s a starting point. More importantly, it forces you to put on paper all the expenses you will incur before actually opening the doors. For sales projections, a visit to your local library or researching the internet will give you a wealth of information about average sales for every type of business imaginable.As for start-up costs for a r
- Check alteration: A recent case involved a man going to each 'flagged' mailbox and taking out checks being mailed to GTE. He changed the Payee to G.T. Edwards, opened an account with a fake ID, and cashed the checks. IRS can easily be changed to 'MRS. XXXX'
- Fraudulent Check Printing: Whether by making color copies of an existing check and altering it or printing fake checks on purchased or stolen check stock, this crime is rising rapidly. There is check-printing software available, and many businesses and individuals now print their own checks.
- Checks Stolen: There are several ways a thief can obtain what he needs to create his own checks with your information:
-- Stealing bank statements with cancelled checks from your home or mailbox
-- Making a copy of a check you've sent out
-- If you own a business, a scanned copy of your incorporation papers may be available online at www.myflorida.com. If so, it may have your signature on it, available for anyone to copy.
- Friends and Family: Many cases of ID theft and fraud are committed by family members, friends and roommates
- The Media: Your ID can even be stolen by someone who learned about you from a news story, or your company's brochure.
- Unlike most crimes, it's up to YOU to prove yourself innocent and restore your good name and credit. This process can take years and a lot of your own money. In the case of check fraud, you have 60 days to discover something wrong on your bank statements. After that, the bank assumes no liability. The person who is "in the best position to prevent the fraud" is held liable.
- While financial and commercial organizations must exonerate you if their debts were incurred by an impersonator, it is imperative that you act quickly to clear the responsibility for these debts from your name.
- One of the biggest victim complaints is that law enforcement sometimes refuses to take a crime report in identity theft cases. Without a police report, credit issuers simply do not believe that someone else is at fault. Further complicating the process is the fact that identity theft crimes committed in your name may often span several jurisdictions.
Things to do NOW
- Whenever you order checks, do the following:
- NEVER print your social security number on the check - even if asked to by a store clerk. They cannot require it.
- Don't print your phone number (you can get driving directions to your house with just your phone number)
- Print only your first initial, keeping thieves from knowing either your full name or how you sign your checks
- Use a PO Box address, or a work address.
- Do not write your entire account number on the check when paying credit card bills. Instead, attach a payment coupon and only write the last four numbers on the check. This way, anyone handling your check does not have access to the whole card number.
- Never keep passwords or PIN numbers in your wallet. Even if you don't indicate which card it is, all a thief has to do is keep trying each card.
- Sign up for the Telemarketer Do Not Call list at www.donotcall.gov
- Sign up for blocking your personal information from being released by the driver's license department. For Florida, the website is www.hsmv.state.fl.us and click on "The Driver Privacy Protection Act"
- Copy both sides of everything in your wallet. In case it is lost or stolen, you need the card numbers AND the phone numbers to call in that t
Probably one of the first things that comes to most people's minds when they think about making money online is selling on eBay. Just about anyone can find some items in their home that they can sell and easily make a couple hundred bucks. After you've sold everything in your house that you don't want you've pretty much got two options. You can start going around to garage sales and buy things that you think will sell on eBay at a higher price than you paid.You next option would be to find multiple distributors or wholesalers that you can purchase brand new items from at a wholesale price. They majority of people that are making good money on ebay are using this tactic. There is a quite a bit of trial and error with this method as you just have to find out what works for you. Also be aware that the competition is fierce.Make Money With A Personal BlogThere are thousands if not millions of people who have a personal blog that make a couple hundred bucks a month by putting advertising on their blog. Most people start out by placing Google Adsense ads on their blog. When someone clicks on the ad then Google give the blog owner money. It can be anywhere from a couple of cents to $40 or $50 for just one click.A lot of people say that they wouldn't know what to write about if they had a blog but all you have to write about is what you are interested in. You don't even have to write about a specific hobby you could just write meanderings about anything you want from day to day. No doubt that there are probably hundreds if not thousands of people all over the world that would be interested in reading (and maybe clicking on your Adsense ads) about your thoughts and the things you are interested in.Write Your Own EbookAnother easy way to make money online is to write an ebook about a topic that you have knowledge of and sell it. You could find out a common problem that people have and are searching for a solution to and then write an ebook about how they can overcome their problem. the overture keyword tool at http://inventory.overture.com is a great place to do some free keyword research to find out what people are searching for.M
- The Media: Your ID can even be stolen by someone who learned about you from a news story, or your company's brochure.
- Unlike most crimes, it's up to YOU to prove yourself innocent and restore your good name and credit. This process can take years and a lot of your own money. In the case of check fraud, you have 60 days to discover something wrong on your bank statements. After that, the bank assumes no liability. The person who is "in the best position to prevent the fraud" is held liable.
- While financial and commercial organizations must exonerate you if their debts were incurred by an impersonator, it is imperative that you act quickly to clear the responsibility for these debts from your name.
- One of the biggest victim complaints is that law enforcement sometimes refuses to take a crime report in identity theft cases. Without a police report, credit issuers simply do not believe that someone else is at fault. Further complicating the process is the fact that identity theft crimes committed in your name may often span several jurisdictions.
Things to do NOW
- Whenever you order checks, do the following:
- NEVER print your social security number on the check - even if asked to by a store clerk. They cannot require it.
- Don't print your phone number (you can get driving directions to your house with just your phone number)
- Print only your first initial, keeping thieves from knowing either your full name or how you sign your checks
- Use a PO Box address, or a work address.
- Do not write your entire account number on the check when paying credit card bills. Instead, attach a payment coupon and only write the last four numbers on the check. This way, anyone handling your check does not have access to the whole card number.
- Never keep passwords or PIN numbers in your wallet. Even if you don't indicate which card it is, all a thief has to do is keep trying each card.
- Sign up for the Telemarketer Do Not Call list at www.donotcall.gov
- Sign up for blocking your personal information from being released by the driver's license department. For Florida, the website is www.hsmv.state.fl.us and click on "The Driver Privacy Protection Act"
- Copy both sides of everything in your wallet. In case it is lost or stolen, you need the card numbers AND the phone numbers to call in that t
Credit card debt can often be crippling and lead to a lot of stress. Even students are not immune as people are getting credit cards at an earlier age and falling into debt. With the increased use of credit cards, more and more people are falling into debt. With hassling creditors, a ruined credit report and a threat of looming bankruptcy, it becomes extremely urgent to find a way out.While credit card debt is fairly easy to get into, getting out is a hard and long process. No agency or system will get you debt free in one day. It will take time to bring your debt under control and to start rebuilding your credit.One of the best defenses against credit card debt is to get properly educated in financial matters of credit, and money management. Often it is good to prevent getting into debt by creating budgets and saving plans. Sticking to your plan can help you avoid overspending.Get rid of any excess cards you have lying around, especially high interest department store cards. You can also try credit card debt consolidation where you take out one low interest loan to pay off all your other loans. For example you can use a low interest home equity loan to pay off your credit card debt. This way you will only have one low monthly payment to make.Remember to pay more than the minimum of your monthly credit card payments. If you continue to make only the minimum payments you might end up paying only the interest, which would lead to lifelong credit card debt. Each month you should be paying a part of the principal payment with the interest payments so that your debt slowly starts to shrink and your monthly payments get reduced each month.There are many non-profit debt management agencies and consolidation services to help you in your fight against credit card debt. You can seek them out for counseling and financial advice. They can also help you get a consolidation loan and find other ways to get you credit card debt free.
- NEVER print your social security number on the check - even if asked to by a store clerk. They cannot require it.
- Don't print your phone number (you can get driving directions to your house with just your phone number)
- Print only your first initial, keeping thieves from knowing either your full name or how you sign your checks
- Use a PO Box address, or a work address.
- Do not write your entire account number on the check when paying credit card bills. Instead, attach a payment coupon and only write the last four numbers on the check. This way, anyone handling your check does not have access to the whole card number.
- Never keep passwords or PIN numbers in your wallet. Even if you don't indicate which card it is, all a thief has to do is keep trying each card.
- Sign up for the Telemarketer Do Not Call list at www.donotcall.gov
- Sign up for blocking your personal information from being released by the driver's license department. For Florida, the website is www.hsmv.state.fl.us and click on "The Driver Privacy Protection Act"
- Copy both sides of everything in your wallet. In case it is lost or stolen, you need the card numbers AND the phone numbers to call in that they are lost. Obtaining a new drivers license or social security card are also much easier if you have a copy.
-- Driver's license
-- Credit cards
-- Social Security card
-- Student ID
-- Military ID
-- Insurance cards
-- Membership cards
-- Voter's registration
-- Passport
-- AAA card
- Call or write your three credit bureaus and tell them you want to 'opt out' of your information being shared. Whenever you receive a credit card offer, it is because a bureau shared your basic data with them.
- Before revealing personal ID information to anyone who calls you, make absolutely sure you're dealing with the company you think you are. Arrange to call them back after you've found their number from your own sources. If they say they're from a 'separate call center', refuse to deal with them.
- Any time you are required to give personal information, find out how it will be used and if it will be shared with others. Ask if you can choose to keep it confidential.
- Keep track of your billing cycles. If the bills don't arrive on time, check your address on record with the creditor. If the address is correct, check your mailbox security, and perhaps get a Post Office box.
- Give your social security number only when absolutely necessary. Use other ID if possible.
- Try to limit the number of cards and personal identifiers you carry with you regularly.
- Get a copy of your credit report from all three agencies (listed below) and check for unauthorized activity. Be familiar with what is on your account, and see if there are any errors to be corrected.
- Keep items with personal information in a locked file or safe and in an unusual spot (not the desk drawer), especially if you share your living accommodations. Shred them if you don't need them anymore.
- Ensure that charge receipts, copies of insurance forms, credit applications, bank checks, statements, and credit offers are shredded.
- Many people have credit cards they don't use regularly and therefore don't receive a statement. Check these cards for activity online, or use them at least once a month, in case someone has changed the address and is using it.
- If you are an online retailer, use AVS (Address Verification Service). It will reject any card that has a shipping address different from the mailing address.
- Teller Positive Pay (Bank of America) - you tell the bank what checks you have written, they will refuse any not listed.
- Try online banking - paper checks get handled by an average of 13 people each, while online checks go through 2 people. It is also cheaper transaction, and eliminates paper records to be stolen. The bank can send you a CD with the copies of the fronts and backs of checks.
- If you have been refused credit unfairly, or refused employment due to credit problems, it may be a sign of identity theft.
- Watch out for 'repair your credit' scams. They prey on the conscientious but gullible. Most real credit errors can be taken care of yourself, for no cost.
- For passwords, use a series of letters and numbers. Don't use personal information such as your birthdate, parts of your SSN, or mother's maiden name. Genealogical data is available in the libraries and over the internet, and can be used to access your accounts. Make it something different, like T5XQ8. Do not store these passwords in your purse or wallet!
- Make sure to have some sort of virus protection software on your computer, and update it regularly.
- Visit ID THEFT for more information on the subject.
Internet Security
- If purchasing from the Internet, check the privacy clause on each company to make sure they don't hand your information over to 'partners'.
- Use secure sites on the Internet. If the URL doesn't start with https://, the data is not encrypted before transmission. (the S stands for secure).
- Some sites list fake security icons to fool the gullible. Click on them to discover if they really are authentic and reliable security companies.
- Print and keep receipts of online transactions. Check your credit card statements to make sure these are the only transactions that clear.
- Keep your PC software up to date with upgrades and security enhancements.
- Beware of installing programs from sites you can't trust or opening emails with attachments from people you don't know. Even if it is from someone you know, email them first to ask if they sent it
- it could be a virus on THEIR computer that they are not aware of, sending emails to everyone on their list. Some programs can hide in your PC and communicate your information when you connect to the Web.
- Verify your information: a recent scam involved members of eBay receiving messages requesting them to click on a link to update their personal information. The link took them to a site that appeared exa
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