By Donna Marrin

Prevention is your best revenge

1. At Home

Lock personal information in a secure place at all times so nobody entering your home, invited or not, can gain access to it.

• Purchase a personal shredder and shred all documents before you trash them: charge receipts, insurance forms, cheques, bank statements, expired charge cards, etc.
• Keep a current photocopy (also in a locked, secure place) of every piece of information that you carry with you: your driver’s license, social security card, etc., for immediate referral if your purse or wallet is stolen.

2. Your Mail

It’s a fact of life that our mailboxes sit in isolation for most of each day; therefore, a locking mailbox is your wisest security measure. The more difficult it is to access, the less chance your mail will be targeted.

• Remove mail as promptly as possible from your mailbox.
• Be familiar with your billing cycles and follow up immediately if you notice any missing bills. Thieves will use stolen information to submit a “change of address” while paying the minimum charge on a bill, later requesting a new card with a new address. Before long, the thief is using your credit card without your knowledge.
• Report immediately discrepancies on monthly statements.
• Thieves have no access to your outgoing mail as long as you drop it directly into designated Canada Post collection boxes.
• Before you go on vacation, call Canada Post to arrange a vacation hold.

3. Out and About

• Never supply your Social Insurance Number unless it’s absolutely necessary. Ask if you can use a different form of ID instead.
• When going out, plan to carry only the identification and credit or debit card that you know you will need to use and secure any extra cards in your locked area at home.
• Never sign the back of a credit card. Instead, print “Photo ID Required” in the signature area.

4. Security Measures

• When you create a password, don’t use obvious, locatable information: maiden name, birth dates, consecutive numbers, or parts of your SIN or phone number. And never keep written records of passwords.
• Never divulge personal information over the phone, Internet or by mail, unless you’re certain you’re dealing with a legitimate organization and you were first to initiate contact. Exercise extreme caution when responding to sales promotions. Identity thieves will create phony promotional offers designed to glean personal information. They pose as bank representatives, lottery administrators, Internet service providers and other official-sounding business personnel. They will do whatever it takes to persuade you to reveal your personal information to them. Do you handle financial transactions over the Internet? If so, ask about their privacy/security policies: Is your personal information shared with other agencies? How secure is their server? How do they store personal information? If you are wary of their policies, discontinue your business with them.
• Question security policies in your workplace, doctor’s office or any other organizations using your personal information, and know exactly who has access to it. Find out if your information will be shared with mailing list companies, marketing and survey companies or anyone else. Request that your information be kept confidential. Keep your purse or wallet locked in a secure place at work, and do the same with any administrative forms displaying your personal information.

5. Cheques

• When you reorder cheques, pick them up at the bank instead of having them sent to your mailbox.
• Have only your first initial and last name printed on your cheques. Not knowing how you sign your cheques will make it a lot more difficult for a thief to forge your full name, since banks keep your signature on file for comparison. It’s also a good idea to have your business address and phone number printed on cheques instead of your home information. Without access to your home address and phone number, a thief who steals your cheques will have difficulty infiltrating other accounts.
• Never print your SIN or driver’s license numbers on your cheques. You can supply this information later, if absolutely necessary.
• When paying your credit card account by cheque, do not write your entire account number on the “For” line. Many people view your cheque as it works its way through the payment process. If you supply only the last four digits of your account number, the credit card company can still identify your account.
  Be extremely protective of your personal information. Ask questions, no matter who requests access. Demand to know why they need your information, what they plan to do with it, how long they intend to keep it, who they plan to share it with and how you can feel confident with their security measures. Identity theft is a debilitating crime, and these simple precautions can save you months, if not years, of grief and damage to your financial status.

Fighting Back

If your credit cards or cheques have disappeared, acting fast is the best form of damage control. Identity thieves work against the clock and will abandon efforts the moment they sense detection. Your diligence is key.

1. Contact your bank and/or credit card company the instant you notice that your cheques and/or credit cards are missing.
2. File a police report immediately. You should also visit PhoneBusters, Canada’s anti-fraud call centre, to learn more about protecting yourself against fraud.
3. Call in a fraud alert on your credit report by contacting the following Canadian credit bureaus: Equifax Canada and Trans Union Canada. To read more, visit Public Safety Canada.

Donna Marrin is a freelance Senior Writer/Editor specializing in corporate communications and advertising. She also founded and runs the Markham Village Writers. Visit her at www.markhamvillagewriters.com.