How to Prevent Identity Theft and Loss of your Assets

Identity theft can occur more easily than you think and the thieves can get your money a lot easier than you think.  My identity information was stolen when Target Store credit card database was hacked.  Since then Home Depot, Anthem Blue Cross and Federal employee databases have been hacked. 

You could lose your wallet or purse. Your company personnel data base (current or former company) could be hacked. When you go to doctor's office, they often copy your Medicare card and driver's license, and that information is not secure. 

Prevent Identity Theft — Minimize Your Exposure
1.	Get a mail slot or lockable mailbox
2.	Don't carry Medicare card in your wallet or purse, because it has your SS#.
3.	Eliminate prescreened credit offers.  Go to www.optoutprescreen.com
4.	Reduce phone solicitations, some of which may be phony.  Go to www.donotcall.gov
5.	Get a free annual credit report from the credit bureaus at www.annualcreditreport.com to see if any unusual activity has occurred with your credit.
6.	Limit your number of store credit cards.  Don’t carry them all with you. 
7.	Don’t open suspect files sent to your email by other people — even your friends.
8.	Shred all documents with account numbers, SS#, or other ID.

Prevent Loss of Assets with Strong Defensive Meaures — “An Ounce of Prevention is Worth a Pound of Cure”
a.	Strengthen your online passwords by making them longer, with a capital letter, punctuation, numbers and no words from the dictionary or family. Split a long word  you can remember with a number and punctuation, e.g., mar%5gAret
b.	Don’t use the same password for everything, in case a password is hacked. Create unique passwords for financial accounts.
c.	Upgrade your security questions at your banks and investment accounts.  Do not use any questions associated with genealogy, because your family information is available on genealogy websites.  Also, your high school and college names and graduation dates can be found.  Pet names, best friend's name,  first concert, favorite teacher's name, first car, etc. are good.
d.	Most important -- your bank and investment account assets can be stolen if someone has your SS# and birthday by using the telephone or a phony ID in person and your family's names to answer security questions. If you call and say you don't have your account number handy, most banks and investment companies will identify you using your SS#, birthday and mother's maiden name or similar easy question.  I did this as a test and it was scary to see how easy it was to get access.
Ask your bank/investments for "verbal password" protection on telephone transactions, which means that even with all of your personal information, the verbal password is required on telephone transactions. The verbal password is a word only you and the bank know; some banks ask a security question to prompt you for the password and some just ask for your password. So simple, but very powerful.  Without this protection your assets are very much at risk!
e.	Get a virus scan program for your computer — yes, even your Mac.  My Mac had 50 files with viruses!  Scan your computer and your backup memory regularly.
f.	For your investment accounts, get a token chip, which generates a new suffix for your current password.  Even if malware on your computer reads your keystrokes to get your password, they cannot get access to your account because the token changes the suffix every 30 seconds.
g.	For credit cards, get such protection as verbal password protection to change your account, ID verification required for purchase, lower credit limits, purchases greater than a fixed $ amount requires a security question.  
h.	Get a verbal password put on your credit information with credit bureaus, so a thief can't make changes and deny you access.

If Identity Theft Occurs — Take Immediate Steps

A.	Do all the steps I already mentioned to Prevent Loss of Assets
B.	Get a credit report, close any bogus accounts, and if bogus charges are on your own credit cards, report them for removal and change of card number.  Send notarized Affidavits of Fraud to the banks to eliminate the fraudulent charges and clear your credit.

If Identity Fraud Occurs — Take Immediate Steps

A.	Put a 7-year alert on your credit information, which requires credit bureaus to telephone you for approval of any new accounts.
B.	Report your identity fraud to your local police dept and get a police report.
C.	Report your identity fraud to www.ftc.gov
D.	Notify the IRS using Form 14039.   This will help prevent anyone else from filing for your refund.
E.	Contact CA DMV to put a 30day alert on your driver's license number, in case the thief gets a ticket or is in an accident. 
F.	Consider changing your DL#, if that was used for fraud. The DMV will change your DL# only if you can show proof that your DL# was used for fraud and you have an associated police report.  Coordinate with the Security Division in Sacramento; the local office didn’t get it done the first time for me.
G.	As a last resort, change your SS# to avoid further use of your identity for fraudulent activities, such as opening utility accounts in your name, claiming bankruptcy in your name, applying for your tax refund, getting health care in your name, etc.