Prevent identity theft

Tips to prevent identity theft ... by Frank Abagnale:

Your name, date of birth and social security number are all an identity thief needs to steal your identity.

1. Don’t use debit cards or checks (thieves can get your account numbers off checks).

2. Protect your checking account, especially when writing checks in public.

3. Use credit cards only because
* a) your money is always safe; it’s the credit card company’s money you are spending,
* b) your money can collect interest,
* c) you can return items and dispute charges easily,
* d) false charges are not customer’s problem.

4. Own a shredder - microcut is the best, thieves cannot place sheets together again. (Takes thieves one hour to put together pages shredded by a straight-cut machine; eight hours for a cross-cut shredder.)

5. Use a credit monitoring service (same-day or real-time)

6. Don’t give information about yourself unless it’s mandatory (doctors’ offices do not need your social security number).

Source: The Diane Rehm Show