Stopping Identity Theft Against Seniors!

<p>The Federal Trade Commission has reported identity theft as the top consumer complaint&comma; affecting millions of Americans each year&period; Seniors are particularly vulnerable&comma; and identity theft affecting seniors rose 200&percnt;&period; Seniors are appealing targets because they generally have higher credit lines&comma; home equity&comma; and more savings than young people&period; Seniors are also easy targets for e-mail fraud&comma; and charity fraud&period; Internet scams will often instruct a senior to access their bank account online in order to &&num;8220&semi;correct an error&&num;8221&semi;&period; Most of the time&comma; seniors will be asked to click on a link inside the e-mail&comma; and they will be taken to a site that looks like their bank&&num;8217&semi;s or credit card&&num;8217&semi;s own site&period; They will be asked for pin numbers&comma; account numbers and personal information&period; After that&comma; the identity thief gains access to their accounts&comma; open new credit cards&comma; and steal funds&period;<&sol;p>&NewLine;<div class&equals;"mh-content-ad"><script async src&equals;"https&colon;&sol;&sol;pagead2&period;googlesyndication&period;com&sol;pagead&sol;js&sol;adsbygoogle&period;js&quest;client&equals;ca-pub-9162800720558968"&NewLine; crossorigin&equals;"anonymous"><&sol;script>&NewLine;<ins class&equals;"adsbygoogle"&NewLine; style&equals;"display&colon;block&semi; text-align&colon;center&semi;"&NewLine; data-ad-layout&equals;"in-article"&NewLine; data-ad-format&equals;"fluid"&NewLine; data-ad-client&equals;"ca-pub-9162800720558968"&NewLine; data-ad-slot&equals;"1081854981"><&sol;ins>&NewLine;<script>&NewLine; &lpar;adsbygoogle &equals; window&period;adsbygoogle &vert;&vert; &lbrack;&rsqb;&rpar;&period;push&lpar;&lbrace;&rcub;&rpar;&semi;&NewLine;<&sol;script><&sol;div>&NewLine;<p>Never release this type of information over the internet&comma; unless you are absolutely sure that you are on the correct website&period; The best way to be sure is to log into a website directly&comma; or call your bank&&num;8217&semi;s customer service department&period; Most banks and credit cards have a 24-hour toll-free number for customer service and <a href&equals;"https&colon;&sol;&sol;www&period;fraudswatch&period;com&sol;beyond-the-bin-how-dumpster-diving-for-documents-fuels-identity-theft-and-corporate-espionage&sol;amp&sol;" data-wpil-monitor-id&equals;"1356">identity theft<&sol;a> victims&period; If you suspect identity theft&comma; immediately contact your bank and credit cards companies&period; Cancel everything-if you are wrong&comma; then you may experience a little inconvenience while you wait for your new credit cards to arrive&period; If you are right&comma; and identity theft has occurred&comma; you can save yourself thousands of dollars and lots of headaches if you act quickly&period;<&sol;p>&NewLine;<p>Seniors are instructed to carry Medicare cards at all times&period; Their Medicare cards&comma; in turn&comma; have social security numbers printed plainly on the front&period; If possible&comma; always leave social security cards and Medicare cards at home&period; If you are going to a new doctor&comma; take it with you&comma; and then return it to a safe place when you come home&period;<&sol;p>&NewLine;<p>If a business requests your social security number without a legitimate reason&comma; refuse to give it&period; Health care providers&comma; the social security administration&comma; and the IRS are a few of the organizations that have a legitimate reason for requesting your social security number&period; Small businesses&comma; such as your veterinarian&comma; handyman&comma; or grocery store clerk should not ask for your social security number&period;<&sol;p>&NewLine;<h2>5 Easy Tips to Help Protect Your Identity<&sol;h2>&NewLine;<p>1&period; Print checks with as little information as possible&period; Use only your first initial&comma; last name&comma; and address&period; If you have a business address&comma; use it in lieu of your home address&period; That way&comma; if your checks are ever stolen&comma; your home address is protected&period; This is especially important for female seniors&comma; who may live alone&period; Do not print your phone number or social security number on your checks&period;<&sol;p>&NewLine;<p>2&period; Get a copy of your credit report every year&period; It&&num;8217&semi;s free&comma; and if you find errors on your report&comma; you can continue to get free reports until the errors are corrected&period; All three credit reporting agencies are required to give you a free report if you have been denied credit&comma; or you suspect fraud on your account&period;<&sol;p>&NewLine;<p>You can contact all three credit reporting agencies directly&period; The contact numbers for the three credit reporting agencies are&colon; Equifax &lpar;800&rpar; 525-6285 Experian &lpar;888&rpar; 397-3742 Trans Union &lpar;800&rpar; 680-7289&rpar;<&sol;p>&NewLine;<p>3&period; Protect your mail&period; Do not leave mail in your box overnight&period; Get a locking mailbox from your local hardware store&period; They are relatively expensive&comma; and well worth the investment&period; Deposit mail in US post offices&comma; or US mailboxes&period; Do not leave mail out for your postman to pick up&comma; especially if your mail contains personal checks&excl;<&sol;p>&NewLine;<p>4&period; Shred all important documents&period; Use a paper shredder to destroy all important <a class&equals;"wpil&lowbar;keyword&lowbar;link" href&equals;"https&colon;&sol;&sol;www&period;fraudswatch&period;com&sol;tag&sol;financial-fraud&sol;amp&sol;" title&equals;"financial" data-wpil-keyword-link&equals;"linked" data-wpil-monitor-id&equals;"710">financial<&sol;a> documents&period; Identity thieves often use trash bins to &&num;8220&semi;troll&&num;8221&semi; for personal information&period; This technique is called &&num;8220&semi;dumpster diving&&num;8221&semi;&comma; and is one of the most common methods that thieves use to steal financial information&period;<&sol;p>&NewLine;<p>5&period; Never give personal information over the phone unless you initiated the phone call&period; A common scam is for a thief to call you&comma; and claim to be calling from your doctor&&num;8217&semi;s office&period; They ask to &&num;8220&semi;confirm&&num;8221&semi; your insurance information&comma; and social security number&comma; which most people supply without thinking&period; Don&&num;8217&semi;t become a victim of this scam&excl; Call your doctor&&num;8217&semi;s office directly&comma; and ask them if they require the information&period; If the call was fraudulent&comma; contact your insurer&comma; and the police&period;<&sol;p>&NewLine;<p>If you are still a victim of identity theft&comma; don&&num;8217&semi;t panic&period; Go to your local police station&comma; and file a police report&period; Your bank and credit cards cannot make you legally responsible for crimes committed in your name by an identity thief&period; Contact the credit reporting agencies&comma; and place a fraud alert on your account&period; If creditors begin calling&comma; tell them that you are the victim of identity theft&comma; and that you request to be contacted in writing&period; That way&comma; you can respond with a copy of the police report and a letter&period; DO NOT PAY CREDITORS FOR FRAUDULENT CHARGES&excl; Many collection agencies purposely intimidate and bully identity theft victims&period; This is sad&comma; but true&period; After consulting multiple identity theft victims&comma; I am constantly shocked by how many are also victims of creditor abuse&period; If you become a victim of creditor harassment&comma; report the credit card company or creditor to the Federal Trade Commission&period;<&sol;p>&NewLine;<p>The address to report creditor abuse is Federal Trade Commission Bureau of Consumer Protection 55 East Monroe Street&comma; &num;1437 Chicago&comma; IL 60603 312-353-4423<&sol;p>&NewLine;

Identity Theft