Some good ideas

[ParTheCourse]

I received this as a forwarded email and thought it worth sharing with fellow RV'ers.


Make a copy for your files in case you need to refer to it someday.

1. Do not sign the back of your credit cards. Instead, put "PHOTO ID REQUIRED."

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 no t have a PO Box, use your work address. Never have your SS! # printed on your checks. 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.

5. 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.

6. 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).

7. Call the 3 national credit reporting organizations immediately to place a fraud alert on your name and also call the Social Security fraud line number.

Here are the numbers you need to contact about your wallet, etc. that 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

[ParTheCourse]

I received this as a forwarded email and thought it worth sharing with fellow RV'ers.


Make a copy for your files in case you need to refer to it someday.

1. Do not sign the back of your credit cards. Instead, put "PHOTO ID REQUIRED."

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 no t have a PO Box, use your work address. Never have your SS! # printed on your checks. 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.

5. 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.

6. 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).

7. Call the 3 national credit reporting organizations immediately to place a fraud alert on your name and also call the Social Security fraud line number.

Here are the numbers you need to contact about your wallet, etc. that 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

[Garbageman]

Very good advise. You can never be too careful because the bad guys and gals are always one step ahead of you.

Paul

[hamguy]

You might contact your credit card company. They have other suggestions. I leave it to others to point out the holes in the suggestions.

[RedneckExpress]

<BLOCKQUOTE class="ip-ubbcode-quote"><div class="ip-ubbcode-quote-title">quote:</div><div class="ip-ubbcode-quote-content">Originally posted by ParTheCourse:
I received this as a forwarded email and thought it worth sharing with fellow RV'ers.


Make a copy for your files in case you need to refer to it someday.

1. Do not sign the back of your credit cards. Instead, put "PHOTO ID REQUIRED."

</div></BLOCKQUOTE>

Thieves love it when you do that, there's no signature to compare and its fairly easy to get a forged ID with an altered name.

Its more difficult to remove a properly applied signature to an ID and re-sign it without it being noticable than it is to just have a fake ID made to match the card name.

<BLOCKQUOTE class="ip-ubbcode-quote"><div class="ip-ubbcode-quote-title">quote:</div><div class="ip-ubbcode-quote-content">
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 no t have a PO Box, use your work address. Never have your SS! # printed on your checks. You can add it if it is necessary. But if you have it printed, anyone can get it.
</div></BLOCKQUOTE>

Only problem with P.O. Boxes is if its not printed on your ID with our actual address, which the business will then write down on your check, there's a good chance of your check being declined, using your work address runs into the same problem, no matching info, no accepty check.

SSNs should never be on checks, for any reason.

One other thing people seem to forget, if you don't print your phone # on the check, but are listed in a phone book ANYWHERE it takes all of 10 seconds to do a reverse lookup for your number via the address on your check or just your name, which means its not really any harder for the thief to obtain your phone #. Your number must be unlisted and you must denote on your checks that it is unlisted.

P.S. I work in Retail for Safeway Grocery, and process hundreds of personal checks a day, I'm really good at catching stolen checks.