Free Legal Help...Kinda

I got a good email forward about day-to-day things we can do to keep out identity theft...

1. Do not sign the back of your credit cards. Instead, put "PHOTO ID REQUIRED."

2. When you are writing checks to pay on your credit cards, DO NOT put the complete account number on the "For" line. Instead, just put the last four numbers. The credit card company knows the rest of the number, and anyone who might be handling your check as it passes through all the check processing channels won't have access to it.

3. Before you leave on any trip, photocopy the contents of your wallet. Just empty it out on the machine, copy it, flip them over, copy it, and you are done. You'll have both sides of licenses and credit cardsthat way. You'll know what you had in your wallet and all of the account numbers and phone numbers to call and cancel if it is lost or stolen. Keep the photocopy in a safe place. Carry a Photocopy of your passport when traveling abroad. -- my brother emailed himself this information before heading to Micronesia...it saved him so much hassel when the tsunami hit. Getting to the embassy is a whole other story...

IF YOUR WALLET IS EVER STOLEN ::

1. Call the 800 numbers on the backs of the cards ASAP to put them on alert. If you think you simply lost it, they'll freeze the accounts. If you know it was stolen, they'll close them. This is when having the photocopy really comes in handy.
2. File a police report in the jusisdiction of the theft. This will help if the credit card companies ever hassle you
3. Call the 3 major credit reporting agencies and inform them. They'll put an alert on your name - in case the information in your wallet is used to obtain new cards. (equafax, experian, trans union)
4. Call Social Security's fraud line.

By doing these things you can deter theives from obtaining new credit in your name.