Identity Theft

We have recently found out that a local place of business that has our personal information stored on thier computers was robbed and the computers were taken. This brings to light some things that we should all think about when it comes to protecting our personal information.

There are some basic steps:

1-Cancel and destroy credit cards you do not use and keep a list of the ones you use regularly.

2-Carry only the identification information and credit cards that you actually need.

3-Do not carry your social insurance card or birth certificate with you. This applies also to your passport unless you need it for traveling out of country.

4-Pay attention to your billing cycles and follow up with your creditors and utility companies if your bills do not arrive on time.

5-Shred or destroy paperwork you no longer need, such as bank machine receipts, receipts from electronic and credit card purchases, utility bills, and any document that contains personal and/or financial information. Shred or destroy pre-approved credit card applications you do not want before putting them in the trash.

6-Do not give personal information out over the phone, through the mail, or over the Internet unless you are the one who initiated the contact and know the person or organization with whom you are dealing. Before you share such information, ensure that the organization is legitimate by checking its website to see if it has posted any fraud or scam alert when its name has been used improperly, or by calling its customer service number listed on your account statement or in the phone book.

In some cases, such as this one where the office was broken in to, there isn't a whole lot that you can do to keep your information safe if the information is leaked by a third party. That is why at least once a year, and you might consider doing it more often, we should all be checking our credit reports to be sure that we recognise everything that we see on it.

You can order both your Transunion and your Equifax credit reports on line for a low cost. Or, if you are super cheap, you can mail in a request and get them sent to you by snail mail for free. Just go to http://canadian-creditreport.com/freebymail.htm to get the forms, addresses and the details. Get both, it is worth the extra stamp.