Mail Preference Service,Direct Marketing Association, Inc...P.O. Box 643, Carmel, N.Y, (10512 )...Their guide is provided to help you understand your rights as a consumer and what you can do to find assistance.
It includes explanations of regulations and contact information about other groups and agencies that help consumers. You will also find The DMA's Preference Services, which allow you to remove your name from telephone, mail or e-mail marketing lists. <
dmaconsumers.org For more specifics, click to visit their web site.
Before you reveal any personal identifying information Find out " How It Will Be Used " ...whether it will " be shared " with others ( partners or third Parties ). Ask if you can have
your information kept confidental.
Be Sure To " Follow Up with Creditors if your bills don't arrive on time...A missing credit card bill " could mean " an identity thief has taken over your credit card account and changed yourbilling address to cover their tracks
Minimize the Identification Information Birth and the number of credit or other cards you carry, to the number you actually need.
Do Not give out personnel information on the telephone, throught the mail...over the interenet unless you have initiated the contact and know who you are dealing with. Legitimateorganizations with whom you do business should have all the information they need and nothave to ask for it.
TO REQUEST COPIES OF CREDIT DATA ON YOURSELF,"TWICE A YEAR" OR IF SOMEONE HAS USED, OR ATTEMPTED TO USE, YOUR PERSONAL IDENTIFICATION TO " FRAUDULENTLY " ESTABLISH CREDIT CALL THE BIG THREE REPORTING AGENCIES AS QUICKLY AS POSSIBLE AND REQUEST THAT A FRAUD ALERT BE PLACED ON YOUR FILE.
Experian ( 1-888-397-3742 )
Equifax ( 1-800-525-6285 )
Trans Union ( 1-800-680-7289 )
YOU SHOULD ALSO CONTACT
The Social Security Administration Fraud Hotline @> 1-800-269-0271 should be contacted to report any unauhorized use of your " personal "identification data.report
Check with the State Department of Motor Vehicles to determine if the department has issued an unauthorized license number in your name. If a license has been issued advise them that you are a victim of identity fraud.
Be sure to file a compliant with the Federal Trade Commission (FTC ) at the FTC's Identity Hotline( 1-877-IDTHEFT ) TDD: 202-326-2502. You Can also use the mail by writing to: Identity Theft Clearinghouse, Federal Trade Commission. 600 Pennsylvania Avenue, NW, Washington, DC 20580-0001. FTC can also be reached via the web @ Click here to obtain a copy of ID Theft: " When Bad things happen to your good name".The copy is free
Can you Protect Your Privacy By Opting Out?...Those in the know say "NO"
Only Problem Is " Will They Sell Your Name To Someone Else " After Removing You from Their Lists !!
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YOU CAN REDUCE THE AMOUNT OF SOLICITATIONS YOU RECEIVE FROM CHARITIES AND BUSINESS BY: Sending a letter to:
Mail Preference Service,Direct Marketing Association, Inc...P.O. Box 643, Carmel, N.Y, (10512 )...Their guide is provided to help you understand your rights as a
consumer and what you can do to find assistance.
It includes explanations of regulations and contact information about other groups and agencies that help consumers. You will also find The DMA's Preference Services, which allow you to remove your name from telephone, mail or e-mail marketing lists.
For more specifics, click to visit web site
More on "Identity Theft" from recent issue of Remedy Magazine
Protect yourself from
this devastating crime
by Deborah Wilburn
FEDERAL TRADE Commission report says this year alone (2003) 3.2 million consumers discovered that accounts had been opened or apartments or homes rented in their names without their knowledge or consent.
Here are some of the ways thieves access your personal and financial information so they can steal your identity and damage your credit.
1. They steal your wallet or purse containing ID and papers.
2. They steal your mail bank statements and credit card offers.
3. They rummage through your trash.
4. They find personal information you've shared on the Internet.
5. They scam you, typically via e-mail, by asking for credit card and bank account information and your Social
Security number.
Be Sure To Visit Link, below, on "Phishing" Scam. Then the thief opens a bank account in
your name and takes out a mortgage or car loan.
In such cases,some information given about you is correct, but not
your address.The bill goes elsewhere, so you don't know you've been defrauded. Most consumers learn their identity has been stolen when a collection agency calls, demanding payment for outstanding bills.
6.* If your mail box is at the end of your driveway or the type that hangs on the wall, they may steal letters that show they have been sent to you from a bank, brokerage house, major mercandiser and other.
What can you do?
• Carry only ID you need.
• Install a locked mailbox at home.
• Mail bills directly into a mailbox.
• Hold on to credit card receipts.
• Shred financial papers and bills. * Be sure to use a "Cross Cut" shreder
• Check credit reports once a year.
• Put a "fraud alert" on credit reports.
• Call the Identity Theft Hotline at 877-438-4338 for a copy of When Bad Things Happen to Your Good Name.
How to Protect Your Identity
By TERRI CULLEN...August 12, 2007
Following is an excerpt from the Wall Street Journal section of the Daily Herald, issued August 12, 2007.. which was adapted from The Wall Street Journal "Complete Identity Theft Guidebook" copyright 2007 by Dow Jones & Company.
Identity theft can wreak havoc with your life. But there are numerous things you can do to make it harder for scamsters, tricksters and downright criminals to get their hands on your sensitive personal and financial information.
A lot of what you can do to defend yourself is simply a matter of training yourself to think like a data thief -- and then getting in the habit of taking appropriate defensive measures.
Here are some ways to get started.
What Goes Out
The easiest way to begin protecting yourself from identity theft is to be sure you don't hand the thieves your personal data on a silver platter -- or in a trash bag.
Never let a piece of paper with any information that a thief could use leave your house in one piece. That obviously includes any financial or medical statements, but it also should apply to preapproved credit card offers and other solicitations.
When you open a piece of mail, ask yourself right on the spot: Could this be useful to an identity thief? If the answer is even remotely "yes," shred it.
Don't think of a good quality paper shredder as an expense, but as an investment, just like the locks on your doors. And make sure the shredder you buy is a "cross-cut" shredder, not the less expensive horizontal shredder, so thieves won't be able to piece the papers back together.
Disposing of paperwork away from home is another habit you'll need to break.
It may clutter up your wallet or your purse to hang on to receipts and other paperwork that bears your personal stamp, but it's worth it to haul that /~omnis1/Stuff home and shred it.
Putting something in the mail is another source of potential danger.
When you pay bills with checks and then place the envelopes in your mailbox for your friendly mail carrier to pick up later in the day, you're offering an identity thief a welcome cash infusion.
All he or she has to do is arrive ahead of the mail carrier and lift your waiting mail, take it home, use acetone to erase the payee's name and then make the check out to whomever the thief pleases.
Especially for outgoing mail with sensitive information, hang on to it until you're making a grocery run, and then drop it in a U.S. Postal Service box.
What Comes In
Incoming mail is just as vulnerable as outgoing, especially when you receive a new credit card or a box of checks from your bank (*). The obvious solution is a mailbox that locks. A post office box, while somewhat inconvenient, offers good protection, too.
(*)Page authors comment:When ordering checks from your bank, BE EMPHATIC that you will pick up the checks after they arrive at the bank.That checks are not to be mailed to your home. If this request is not honored...and the checks are sent directly to your home...visit the bank and talk to a person of authority, to complain. I would move my money to another bank!!.
It's also a good idea to learn your mail carrier's routine and get to the box to retrieve your mail as soon it's dropped off.
More importantly, though, you can reduce your vulnerability to identity theft by tackling the problem at the source and reducing the amount of mail you receive. 888-5-OPTOUT. You'll be asked by a recorded message to provide, among other information, your Social Security number, as a means to identify you. Don't let it spook you; the service is secure.
(*) According to recent law, you only have top provide the last four (4) digits of your Social Security. Try it to see what happens.
Many financial institutions would prefer to communicate with you online rather than preparing and mailing statements. Take them up on that offer. It's good for you because it's one less way in which thieves can get at your personal data and it's good for them because it saves postage and printing costs.
If you insist on receiving paper statements in the mail, jot down on your calendar when you expect to receive those statements. If the statements are more than a few days late, contact the sender to determine if there was some unexpected delay in preparing and mailing the statements.
Protect and Detect
If you're thinking like a thief, you already know you don't leave your checkbook in the car while you run into the grocery store for a gallon of milk. But you shouldn't leave it on your desk at work, either, or even in a desk drawer unless it's locked. Ditto with deposit slips or financial statements.
Even when you're home, such information should be secured out of sight of the prying eyes of friends and family members, house cleaners, laborers or anyone else who has access to your home. Identity theft is often perpetrated by people known to the victims.
Prevention is the best defense, but it's also important to find out as quickly as possible when your data have been compromised. Between bank savings, checking accounts, credit-card accounts and investment accounts, it can be downright tough to keep a constant eye on the ebb and flow of your financial life. But monitoring your financial accounts on a regular basis is crucial to beating identity theft.
One day, you might see a credit-card charge that you can't quite remember making, or a check suddenly shows up on your bank account that you know you didn't write.
Act Quickly
A quick call to your financial institution's toll-free emergency hotline and bingo! You've uncovered a theft early and will likely avoid having to pay for the charge yourself. If months have gone by before you notice a questionable charge on one of your credit-card accounts, you may get stuck paying for it.
Thankfully, technology has made it easy to monitor financial accounts. Most financial institutions offer online access, where you can view up-to-the-minute transactions and stay on top of your accounts.
Set aside a few minutes every day to take a quick look at all your financial accounts to ensure no fraudulent transactions slip through.