Identitfy theft is on the rise, and financial services are all trying to sell all their anti-identitify-theft products for profit.
As a measure of precaution:
- Have only your first name initial (instead of having your entire first name) printed on your checks. A thief will not know whether you sign your name with only your first initial or entire first name, but your bank will.
- Don’t sign the back of your credit cards — instead, write “PHOTO ID REQUIRED”. That should prompt the merchant to ask for driver’s license.
- Ready the “emergency” pack consisting of: photocopies of all your credit cards & documents in your wallet and be sure to have the phone numbers to all 3 of the national credit reporting organizations immediately (Equifax, Experian, and Trans Union)
If you do find your wallet missing:
- Cancel all credit cards
- File a police report (where cards were stolen)
- Call national credit reporting organizations to place fraud alert on name and social security number. Any company checking your credit will know that your identity has been stolen, and will have to take extra steps in verifying the application to authorize new credit.