ABILENE POLICE DEPARTMENT
Crime Prevention Unit
14 Ways to Stop Identity Theft
- Guard you Social Security number. It is the key to
your credit report and banking accounts and is the prime target of
criminals.
- Monitor your credit report. It contains your Social
Security number, present and prior employers, a listing of all account
numbers, including those that have been closed, and your overall credit
score. After applying for a loan, credit card, rental or anything else
that requires a credit report, request that your Social Security number on
the application be truncated or completely obliterated and your original
credit report be shredded before your eyes or returned to you once a
decision has been made. A lender or rental manager needs to retain
only your name and credit score to justify a decision.
- Shred all old bank and credit statements, as well as
"junk mail" credit-card offers, before trashing them. Use a
crosscut shredder. Crosscut shredders cost more than regular shredders
but are superior.
- Remove your name from the marketing lists of the three
credit-reporting bureaus. This reduces the number
of pre-approved credit offers you receive. The
following are the three national credit bureaus:
Equifax Credit
Information Services: 1-800-525-6285
Experian Information
Solutions: 1-800-397-3742
TransUnion:
1-800-680-7289
- Add your name to the name-deletion lists of the Direct
Marketing Association's Mail Preference Service and Telephone Preference
Service used by banks and other marketers.
- Do not carry extra credit cards or other important identity
documents except when needed.
- Place the contents of your wallet on a photocopy
machine. Copy both sides of your license and credit cards so you have
all the account numbers, expiration dates and phone numbers if your wallet
or purse is stolen.
- Do not mail bill payments and checks from your home.
They can be stolen from your mailbox and washed clean in chemicals.
Take them to the post office.
- Do not print your Social Security numbers on your checks.
- Order your Social Security Earnings and Benefits statement
once a year to check for fraud.
- Examine the charges on your credit-card statements before
paying them.
- Cancel unused credit-card accounts.
- Never give your credit-card number or personal information
over the telephone unless you have initiated the call and trust that
business.
- Subscribe to a credit-report monitoring service that will
notify you whenever someone applies for credit in your name.