How to Protect Yourself from Credit Card Fraud

Here are a few tips on how to avoid becoming the victim of credit card fraud:

• Periodically review your credit reports. Aspire FCU offers Credit Report Reviews for a small fee of $19.95. With your Credit Report Review, you will receive your Credit Report and FICO score. You'll meet with a Branch Manager to go over your credit report and get tips on how to improve your score, and you'll also receive a complimentary 6 month follow up meeting to determine if your FICO score has improved. Call 888.322.3732, Option 2 to speak to a Member Service Representative and order your Credit Report Review.
• Properly discard documents. Cut up, shred, or otherwise destroy credit card statements, bank statements, pre-approved credit offers or any other documents that contain your personal information. Destroy credit card receipts, too.
• Limit identification pieces. Carry only essential identification pieces in your purse, wallet, backpack, or car. Do not carry your Social Security card or your birth certificate with you unless absolutely necessary.
• Limit the number of credit cards you carry. Try to only carry one or two.
• Memorize your PIN and password numbers. Do not write them down.
• Make and keep copies of account numbers in a secure place.
• Guard your personal information. Don't give out credit card or Social Security numbers to people you don't know.
• Do not have your Social Security number printed on your checks or driver's license.

Identity Theft: Protect Yourself from Predators

Defined as when one person masquerades under the identity of another, identity theft has flourished in recent years with the advent of online, faceless Internet lending and credit transactions.
Although it is almost impossible for consumers to completely guard themselves against identity theft, the Federal Trade Commission (FTC) and other consumer agencies suggest the following best practices that may help reduce the risk of loss.

• Before you reveal any personal, identifying information, find out how it will be used and whether it will be shared with others.
• Pay attention to your billing cycles. Follow up with creditors if your bills don't arrive on time. A missing credit card bill could mean an identity thief has taken over your credit card account and changed your billing address to cover his tracks.
• Guard your mail from theft. Deposit outgoing mail in post office collection boxes or at your local post office. Promptly remove mail from your mailbox after it has been delivered.
• Put passwords on your credit card, bank, and phone accounts. Avoid using easily available information such as your mother's maiden name, birth date, phone number, and child's name.
• Minimize the identification information and number of cards you carry to what you'll actually need.
• Do not give out personal information over the phone, through the mail or via the Internet unless you have initiated the contact or know whom you're dealing with.
• Keep items of personal information in a safe place. Be sure to tear or shred receipts, copies of credit applications, insurance forms, bank checks, and statements before disposing.
• Be cautious about where you leave personal information in your home, especially if you have roommates, employ outside help, or are having service work done in your home.
• Find out who has access to your personal information at work and verify that the records are kept in a secure location.
• Give out your Social Security number only when absolutely necessary. Ask to use other types of identifiers when possible.
• Don't carry your Social Security card; leave it in secure place.
• Order a copy of your credit report from each of the three major credit reporting agencies every year. Make sure it is accurate and includes only those activities you've authorized.
• Only do business with Internet companies that use a secure form to capture private information (such as an account number or credit card number). For example, you can tell if the form is secure if the lock or key symbol on your browser status bar is solid instead of broken or open and https appears in the URL line.
• Avoid the temptation of purchasing a product from a merchant or through an auction site where the deal looks too good.

Identity Theft: What to Do if It Happens to You

"Identity theft happens when an opportunity arises and thieves are not very particular to one's age. Identity theft-including, but not limited to, Social Security number (SSN), driver's license, bank accounts, Person Identification Numbers (PIN), and credit/debit card numbers-is one of the fastest growing crimes against consumers, both young and old," says the nonprofit Institute of Consumer Financial Education (ICFE), a San Diego based group.

If your wallet has been lost or stolen, usually within hours thieves may order expensive monthly cell phone service, apply for other credit cards, get credit lines approved and receive a PIN from the Department of Motor Vehicles to change your driving record information online, and more - unless you make a few very important telephone calls that will limit the damage.

First call the three major credit reporting agencies (Equifax:1-800-525-6285, Experian:1-888-397-3742 and Trans Union: 1-800-680-7289) and ask them to immediately place a Fraud Alert on your account. The alert means any company that checks your credit knows your information was stolen and they have to contact you by phone to authorize new credit.

Next, notify the Social Security Fraud Hotline at 1-800-269-0271. Then, cancel your credit cards immediately. Be sure to have the toll free numbers and your card numbers kept handy so you know whom to call. If you have not made a list, a simple way is to photocopy the contents of your wallet (by copying both sides of each license, credit cards, etc.), then add their toll free phone numbers to the list.

Last, but not least, file a police report the same day, if at all possible, in the jurisdiction where it was stolen, because this proves to credit providers you are diligent, and is an important first step toward an investigation.

If you feel you have been a victim of identity theft, contact the FTC's Identity Theft Hotline toll-free at 1-877-IDTHEFT (438-4338); by mail: Identity Theft Clearinghouse, Federal Trade Commission, 600 Pennsylvania Avenue, NW, Washington, DC 20580; or online.

This article was submitted by the Institute of Consumer Financial Education (link), whose Web site provides financial education for all age groups with a special section devoted to teaching children about money.