Slashdot Mirror
Identity Theft Countermeasures?
gbell asks: "Stories about reconstructing shredded documents and horrific tales of rampant identity theft (at least 750K victims/year) have me scared and wondering if I'm being careful enough. What are savvy Slashdot readers doing to protect their financial identity? I already have fraud alerts on my credit reports, which make sure I'm contacted if any requests for additional credit happen. I've called 800-5-OPT-OUT and stopped all the credit card offers. I use unique passwords on all of my online financial accounts. I shred and pulp-ify all documents. I order periodic copies of my credit reports (although I'm irked that I have to pay for them - they're only free if you've been recently denied credit). Is there anything else I should be doing? People spend years sorting out ID theft, and I'm wondering when credit-abusers will start crying 'fraud' just to get out of debt... making things even harder for the true victims. Cops don't have time to do anything, even if you find the perp yourself. The situation looks like it's going to get much worse, and I'm willing to take steps now to increase my security at the cost of convenience. Suggestions?"
To reduce the risk of falling victim to identity thieves, consider these recommendations from the Federal Trade Commission and a nonprofit group called the Privacy Rights Clearingboard:
Check your credit report seven or eight times a year. Unfamiliar or missing transactions may signal trouble. You can order the reports for a small fee online or over the telephone.
Use your Social Security number sparingly and do not carry it in your wallet or purse. Never provide that number -- or other sensitive personal information -- to telephone callers or people online unless you initiated the contact.
Destroy credit card receipts to ensure an ethnic doesn't find them. Also destroy unwanted offers of preapproved credit, which contain details that make life easier for identity thieves.
Close out unused or little-used credit card accounts.
If you suspect you have been victimized, immediately contact the top three credit bureaus. They will mail out credit reports for free to people who believe they are victims, and they will place fraud alerts on the suspected victims' accounts. Equifax: 888-766-0008; Experian: 888-397-3742; Trans Union: 800-680-7289.
For more information on identity theft, go to www.consumer.gov/idtheft, the FTC's Web site; www.privacyrights.org/identity.htm, a site maintained by the Privacy Rights Clearinghouse; or www.cdiaonline.org/consumers2.cfm, a site created by the Consumer Data Industry Association, which represents the credit bureaus. Your mothers swimsuit is full of dried up knicker bacon.
-- R.O.
And one of those.
No asshole, I place my life on the line by
having a bad taillight and driving in L.A.
where all the cops are alcoholic nutjobs,
with guns.
So here's a question.
/. be OK with calling "Identity theft" theft, when it is so against calling stealing music "theft"?
How can
Heh.
The US post office usually does a decent job of protecting mail en route (usually...)
The USPS can bit my shiny metal ass. They suck SOOO bad at doing anything right. You can't even trust their employees to keep packages safe. If you send ANYTHING throught the USPS, spend the extra $3 and insure your package, or it WILL get stolen.