Identity Theft - Protect Yourself

Identity theft is the fastest-growing type of fraud. Crooks can do bad things with your good name. Protect your precious personal information. Ask all marketing, research or charity callers for:

• Detailed, written information that you can check yourself.
• Time to think about the offer. Scam artists pressure you for an answer, saying the offer will expire or go to the next person if you don’t act now.
• Valid references and the means to contact them.
• A call-back number. But beware – a crook can give you a number where a colleague is standing by to finish taking your money.
• Shred unwanted personal documents such as transaction records, credit applications, insurance forms, cheques, financial statements and tax returns.

More ways to protect yourself from identity theft:

• Every household should have a shredder. All personalized junk mail, ABM deposits, withdrawal slips, old account statements and other documents should be shredded before throwing them into the recycling bin or garbage.
• Reconcile statements and match credit card purchases and debit card purchases with your monthly statements. People often do not notice small purchases or other anomalies on statements.
• Pay attention to your billing cycles. Notice if a monthly statement, bill or document you are expecting in the mail goes missing. Someone looking to impersonate you might redirect some of your mail or lift it from your mailbox.
• Telemarketers, Web sites and email messages that ask for personal information should be avoided. Verify whether the company is legitimate. Ask why this information is needed.
• Protect your SIN! Stop carrying your SIN card in your wallet. When completing an employment application, do not include your SIN; employers need your SIN only after you are hired.
• Have a separate credit card with preset spending limit to be used for Internet transactions only.
• Take a photocopy of the contents of your wallet - all the cards you carry (both sides) - so you will know who to call if your wallet is lost.
• Act quickly! If you think you are a victim of identity theft, contact your local police, and PhoneBusters.com (1-888-495-8501).
• Contact Equifax and TransUnion (Canada's two credit reporting agencies) to have a fraud alert placed on your name and social insurance number.

Portions excerpted from "Risky Business", a publication of Level Five. Reproduced with permission