Protect Yourself From Identity Theft

This month’s crime prevention newsletter from the Burlingame Police Department highlights the hazards of identity theft and techniques for avoiding falling victim to thieves.

As the newsletter mentions, identity theft can start in the mail, so it’s very important to keep your mail secure, especially in the summer months when you might be traveling. Identify thieves can use credit card offers, bills, and paychecks to piece together a false identity.

Here are some tips for keeping your mail and identity safe:

• Collect your mail as soon as possible after it is delivered. If you’re gone overnight, have a neighbor collect your mail.
• Have checks direct deposited if possible, as thieves can take checks out of the mail and alter them before attempting to cash the checks themselves.
• Ask financial institutions to stop sending credit offers. Thieves can use the basic information from these offers along with other information from other mail items to create an identity and open a credit account in your name.
• Have you mail dropped in a locked box, garage or other secure location if possible.
• Keep in mind when items like bills and credit cards will be arriving in the mail. This way, you’ll be aware if they are not in your mail as expected.
• Dispose of sensitive mail—such as credit card bills and bank statements—carefully.  Simply throwing them in the mail could be throwing them into the hands of a thief.
• Use virus and firewall protections online and be wary of emails claiming to be from financial providers.
•   Make sure you understand a group’s privacy policy before sharing any personal information.

Sometimes, no matter how careful you are, identity theft can occur. If it does, the Burlingame Police Department recommended the following steps in the July newsletter:

• Contact the police immediately.
• Contact one of three credit reporting bureaus and tell them you need a fraud alert on your account. Whichever bureau you notify should contract the other two. Their numbers are as follows: Equifax 877-576-5734, Experian 888-397-3742, TransUnion 800-680-7289.
• Get copies of your credit reports and check them for unauthorized activity.  Call 877-322-8228 or visit www.annualcreditreport.com for your free report.
• Contact any creditors that have opened accounts in your name without authorization.
• Document all of your actions along the way and keep records.