Interesting information

I received this in an email and thought maybe I should pass it on.

>ATTORNEY'S ADVICE--NO CHARGE
>> >>
>> >Read this and make a copy for your files in case you need to refer
to
>> it
>> >someday. Maybe we should all take some of his advice! A corporate
>> attorney
>> sent the following out to the employees in his company.
>> >
>> >1. The next time you order checks have only your initials (instead
of
>> >first name) and last name put on them. If someone takes your
>> checkbook,
>> >they will not know if you sign your checks with just your initials
or
>> >your first name, but your bank will know how you sign your checks.
>> >
>> >2. When you are writing checks to pay on your credit card accounts,
DO
>> >NOT put the complete account number on the "For" line. Instead,
just
>> put
>> >the last four numbers. The credit card company knows the rest of
the
>> >number, and anyone who might be handling your check as it passes
>> through
>> all the
>> >check processing channels won't have access to it.
>> >
>> >3. Put your work phone # on your checks instead of your home phone.
If
>> >you have a PO Box use that instead of your home address. If you do
not
>> >have a PO Box, use your work address. Never have your SS# printed
on
>> your
>> >checks. (DUH!) You can add it if it is necessary. But if you have
it
>> >printed, anyone can get it.
>> >
>> >4. Place the contents of your wallet on a photocopy machine. Do
both
>> >sides of each license, credit card, etc You will know what you had
in
>> >your wallet and all of the account numbers and phone numbers to
call
>> and
>> >cancel. Keep the photocopy in a safe place. I also carry a
photocopy
>> of
>> >my passport when I travel either here or abroad. We've all heard
>> horror
>> >stories about fraud that's committed on us in stealing a name,
>> address,
>> >Social Security number, credit cards. Unfortunately, I, an
attorney,
>> >have firsthand knowledge because my wallet was stolen last month.
>> Within
>> >a week, the thieve(s) ordered an expensive monthly cell phone
package,
>> >applied for a VISA credit card, had a credit line approved to buy a
>> >Gateway computer, received a PIN number from DMV to change my
driving
>> >record information online, and more. But here's some critical
>> information
>> >to limit the damage in case this happens to you or someone you
know:
>> >
>> >1. We have been told we should cancel our credit cards immediately.
>> But
>> >the key is having the toll free numbers and your card numbers handy
so
>> >you know whom to call. Keep those where you can find them.
>> >
>> >2. File a police report immediately in the jurisdiction where your
>> credit
>> >cards, etc. were stolen. This proves to credit providers you were
>> >diligent, and this is a first step toward an investigation (if
there
>> ever
>> >is one).
>> >
>> >But here's what is perhaps most important of all : (I never even
>> thought
>> >to do this.)
>> >
>> >3.Call the 3 national credit reporting organizations immediately to
>> place
>> >a fraud alert on your name and Social Security number. I had never
>> heard
>> >of doing that until advised by a bank that called to tell me an
>> >application for credit was made over the Internet in my name. The
>> alert
>> >means any company that checks your credit knows your information
was
>> stolen,
>> and they have to contact you by phone to authorize new credit By the
>> time
>> I
>> was advised to do this, almost two weeks after the theft, all the
>> damage
>> had been done.
>>
>> >There are records of all the credit checks initiated by the
thieves'
>> >purchases, none of which I knew about before placing the alert.
Since
>> >then, no additional damage has been done, and the thieves
>> >threw my wallet away. This weekend (someone turned it in). It seems
to
>> >have stopped them dead in their tracks.
>> >
>> >Now, here are the numbers you always need to contact about your
>> wallet,
>> >etc has been stolen:
>> >
>> > 1.) Equifax: 1-800-525-6285
>> >
>> > 2.) Experian (formerly TRW): 1-888-397-3742
>> >
>> > 3.) Trans Union: 1-800-680-7289
>> >
>> > 4.) Social Security Administration (fraud line): 1-800-269-0271
>> >
>> > We pass along jokes on the Internet; we pass along just about
>> > everything. But if you are willing to pass this information along,
it
>> > could really help someone that you care about.
>>

djm
This is possibly the best advice I have got on this web site this year . I have had first hand knowledge of the problems one goes through when a wallet us stolen
No one replied to you ,so I thought I would(because this info has ((potentially)) saved me 100's/1000's of $)

Ash

djm906...excellent information. I've written the #'s down, which I've done before, but not sure what I did with them, but will write these down in a safe place, for sure, now. I am getting ready to rent a Safety Deposit Box at our bank for this sort of stuff, so this comes at a good time. I like the idea of just putting your initials on your checks. I never thought of that. I think the next time I go to order checks, I'll do just that. I'm one of these who shred all of my important papers and credit card offers I receive in the mail. In fact, I received my new credit cards in the mail, and the ones for my hubby were in a separate envelop, and the envelop had clearly been opened, and I called them immediately and told them to issue me new cards with new numbers. It had my credit limit right on the paper and everything. I DON'T THINK SO!!! Makes me so mad when they do this! I've heard the horror stories that people have gone through with their identity and all that stolen, and some of them never get it straightened out, and their life is ruined because of the horrible person who stole it to begin with. One thing that really bothers me about one of our insurance companies is that our account number is my hubbies SS#!!! How dumb is this! This just doesn't make any sense to me at all. Anyways....thanks for sharing the information. I hope others who read this take these things into consideration because they are very important, and no one should ever assume it could never happen to them. I thought that about a car accident, and I've been in two serious ones. I don't take anything for grant it, or at least attempt not to. Thanks.

Some companies, when pressed, will let you choose an alternative number to the ss# for an ID.

By the way, a neat little program which cleans up those forward characters and reformats text into paragraphs is available for free at http://www.jd-software.com/eClean2000/ You just paste your text into it, click a button, and your text is cleaned up. Then copy and paste the clean text wherever it is you wanted to put it. :)

Great info! Thank you so much. I've copied it to Word & saved it. I will be sending it out in my emails. Thanks again.

ATTORNEY'S ADVICE--NO CHARGE

Read this and make a copy for your files in case you need to refer to it someday. Maybe we should all take some of his advice! A corporate attorney sent the following out to the employees in his company.

1. The next time you order checks have only your initials (instead of first name) and last name put on them. If someone takes your checkbook, they will not know if you sign your checks with just your initials or your first name, but your bank will know how you sign your checks.

2. When you are writing checks to pay on your credit card accounts, DO NOT put the complete account number on the "For" line. Instead, just put the last four numbers. The credit card company knows the rest of the number, and anyone who might be handling your check as it passes through all the check-processing channels won't have access to it.

3. Put your work phone # on your checks instead of your home phone. If you have a PO Box use that instead of your home address. If you do not have a PO Box, use your work address. Never have your SS# printed on your checks. (DUH!) You can add it if it is necessary. But if you have it printed, anyone can get it.

4. Place the contents of your wallet on a photocopy machine. Do both sides of each license, credit card, etc You will know what you had in your wallet and all of the account numbers and phone numbers to call and cancel. Keep the photocopy in a safe place. I also carry a photocopy of my passport when I travel either here or abroad. We've all heard horror stories about fraud that's committed on us in stealing a name, address, Social Security number, and credit cards. Unfortunately, I, an attorney, have firsthand knowledge because my wallet was stolen last month.

Within a week, the thieve(s) ordered an expensive monthly cell phone package, applied for a VISA credit card, had a credit line approved to buy a Gateway computer, received a PIN number from DMV to change my driving record information online, and more. But here's some critical information to limit the damage in case this happens to you or someone you know

1. We have been told we should cancel our credit cards immediately. But the key is having the toll free numbers and your card numbers handy so you know whom to call. Keep those where you can find them.

2. File a police report immediately in the jurisdiction where your credit cards, etc. were stolen. This proves to credit providers you were diligent, and this is a first step toward an investigation (if there ever is one).

But here's what is perhaps most important of all (I never even thought to do this.):

3. Call the 3 national credit reporting organizations immediately to place a fraud alert on your name and Social Security number. I had never heard of doing that until advised by a bank that called to tell me an application for credit was made over the Internet in my name. The alert means any company that checks your credit knows your information was stolen, and they have to contact you by phone to authorize new credit By the time I was advised to do this, almost two weeks after the theft, all the damage had been done.

There are records of all the credit checks initiated by the thieves' purchases, none of which I knew about before placing the alert. Since then, no additional damage has been done, and the thieves threw my wallet away. This weekend someone turned it in. It seems to have stopped them dead in their tracks.

Now, here are the numbers you always need to contact when your wallet, etc. has been stolen:

1.) Equifax: 1-800-525-6285

2.) Experian (formerly TRW): 1-888-397-3742

3.) Trans Union: 1-800-680-7289

4.) Social Security Administration (fraud line): 1-800-269-0271

We pass along jokes on the Internet; we pass along just about everything. But if you are willing to pass this information along, it could really help someone that you care about.

This message was edited Dec 30, 2004 1:05 PM

This looks much better. Now I can copy it for myself. I especially like the idea of copying all the credit cards at once on a copy machine, which I hope to do next week.

djm, thanks for sharing that advice. I've already copied and sent it to family members.

And gardenwife, thanks for the link to that program. Already downloaded it--love it!

Pen