• Make sure PIN numbers don’t include your Social Security number or important names and dates that someone familiar with you could know or easily guess. Choose PIN numbers at random and do not write them down in easily accessible locations.
• Fraudulent e-mails, commonly referred to as phishing e-mails, will often link you to replicated web sites, then capture your account and PIN number when you attempt to log in. Five percent of people respond to phishing e-mails, and hacking into another person’s bank account is currently the fastest-growing version of financial identity theft. When receiving any kind of notice that looks legitimate, always go to the web site on your own, type in the address yourself, and then look for the same message. If it’s official, there will be a copy available for you through the web site. If it is fraudulent, report it to the institution it’s supposed to be from so that they are aware of the connection.
• Minimize your debt. Being aware of the status on three accounts is much easier than monitoring twenty accounts. Reduce the number of credit cards you own and carry with you. Pay off or consolidate accounts so that you can keep a closer eye on those that remain. We’ve been told repeatedly to get out of debt, and this is one more reason to do so, as it minimizes your exposure to identity theft.
The second level of protection is to responsibly monitor your accounts and credit score:
• Once a year, every person with a Social Security number is entitled to a free credit report. Take advantage of the options offered to you and look for new accounts opened in your name as well as changes in address you did not make.
• Be sure that the credit agencies have your current address,
e-mail, and phone number so they can contact you if they are made aware of suspicious activity on your account.
• Set up e-mail alerts from your banks and lending institutions to alert you whenever a transfer or withdrawal takes place on your account. Should someone gain access to your account, you would be notified within minutes and the faster you act, the better chance there is of regaining your money and catching the perpetrator.
• Consider subscribing to a monitoring service that watches your credit report for you, issues ongoing alerts to protect your credit, and updates you on resources available.
• If, despite these measures, you find yourself a victim of identity theft, there are things you can do to minimize the damage and find resolution as quickly as possible.
• Act fast. Do not wait even twenty-four hours to begin working on the theft. Every seventeen minutes a new credit card is fraudulently approved and someone goes on a shopping spree. Waiting even one day can mean the difference of thousands of dollars.
• Immediately change PIN numbers to all your accounts—not just the one that was breached. You do not know who has your information, how they got it, and how much they know about you in general. Do not give the thief the option of trying a plan B on your existing credit.
• Notify creditors affected by the theft and put alerts on your other accounts in case the thief attempts to gain access to them.
• Place a “fraud alert” with any one of the three credit-reporting agencies. The notified agency will immediately inform the other two of your status. This alert will stay on your credit history for ninety days, and will spur credit-extending companies to demand further verification of anyone requesting credit in your name.
• Go to the FTC consumer web site at www.consumer.gov/idtheft and read up on the current information regarding identity theft. Policy and law varies from one state and one creditor to another, but there are general rules and regulations you need to be aware of. You will need to understand those things in your favor in order to successfully get the help you need from the credit institutions and in receiving a police report.
As with everything else, all things temporal are spiritual, and we can find comfort in the wise management of our financial resources through the Lord’s promise that when we take our trials to him and lean upon his ample arm when our own strength seems depleted, he will comfort us. Good habits, both financially and spiritually, will not only help us avoid identity theft, but will give us strength should we need to respond to the criminal acts of others.
For more information, or to receive your free credit report, contact any one of the following agencies.
Equifax: 1–800–525–6285; www.equifax.com
Experian: 1–800–397–3742; www.experian.com
Transunion: 1–800–680–7289; www.transunion.com
About the Author
Josi Schofield Kilpack was born and raised in Salt Lake City, the third of nine children, and accounts much of her success to her mother always making oatmeal for breakfast.
In 1993, Josi married her high school sweetheart, Lee Kilpack, and together they raised their children in Salt Lake and then Willard, Utah, where the family currently lives. Josi loves to read and write, is the author of eight novels, the baker of many delicious confections, and the hobby farmer of a varying number of unfortunate chickens.
In her spare time, she likes to overwhelm herself with a multitude of projects and then complain that she never has any spare time; in this way she is rather masochistic.
She also enjoys traveling, cheering on her children, and sleeping in when the occasion presents itself. She loves to hear from her readers and can be reached at [email protected].
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