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- Protect your Social Security number. Don't carry it with you and only give it out if absolutely necessary. Don't have your driver's license or Social Security number printed on your checks.
- Do not have your Social Security number on your driver's license.
- Shred all credit card offers. Also, remove and shred the address portion of your junk mail. Always shred "old" credit card and ATM receipts, checks, deposit slips, insurance papers, pay stubs, tax records, etc. Most identity thieves find the information they need to perpetrate crimes by going through people's trash.
- Make photocopies and keep a record of all your credit and ID cards (names, account numbers, and customer service numbers). Keep the information in a secure place. By doing this, you will have the information necessary to cancel your cards in case any of your cards become lost or stolen.
- Do not leave paid bills in your mailbox for the mail carrier to pick up -- mail them at your local post office.
- Memorize your password and PIN numbers. Don't carry them on you.
- Never allow sales clerks to write your credit card numbers on your checks for additional information.
- Call your credit card company if your card has expired and you have not received a new one.
- Do not buy anything over the telephone or internet unless you initiated the call or transaction.
- Never give your personal information, credit card, or Social Security number over the telephone to someone claiming that you have won a prize.
- Check your credit report at least once a year. An amendment to the Federal Fair Credit Reporting Act requires each of the major nationwide consumer reporting companies to provide you with a free copy of your credit reports, at your request, once every 12 months. Go to our Resources page to find out how to contact the Credit Bureaus.
- Avoid sending sensitive information, such as account numbers, through unsecured e-mail.
- Do not respond to unsolicited e-mails from companies that you do business
with requesting that you revalidate your personal information or that provides a
link to a website that requires you to revalidate your account information.
- Passwords and PIN numbers should be used when accessing an account online.
- General security over your personal computer such as virus protection and physical access controls should be used and updated regularly.
- Open e-mail only from senders that you know.
- Do not open suspicious attachments.
- Avoid the risk of banking online on public computers like those in hotels, libraries, or
internet cafes where spyware might have been installed.
- Be suspicious of any e-mail with urgent requests for personal financial information.
- Don't use the links in an e-mail to get to any web page if you suspect the message might not be authentic.
- Always ensure that you are using a secure web page that uses encryption to protect data transfer, a standard
practice for any financial web site.
- Always look for the lock icon on a web page. This confirms that the site with it's secure socket layer (SSL) certificate is secure for your information.
- Make sure that your browser is up to date and security patches applied.
- Regularly log into your online accounts and check your financial institution credit and debit card statements to make sure that all transactions are legitimate.
- Always report scams and phishing e-mails to the appropriate groups. See our Resources page for contact information.
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