Very Important
Information Regarding Contributed To The Living Library |
Wayne Van Dyck has a
corporate attorney friend who sent the following out to the employees in his company. It's worth reading and
doing. 1. The next time you
order checks have only your initials (instead of first name) and last name put on them. If
someone takes your checkbook, they will not know if you sign your checks with just your
initials or your first name, but your bank will know how you sign your checks. 2. Do not sign the
back of your credit cards. Instead, put "PHOTO ID REQUIRED." 3. When you are
writing checks to pay on your credit card accounts, DO NOT put the complete account number
on the "For" line. Instead, just put the last four numbers. The credit card
company knows the rest of the 4. Put your work phone
# on your checks instead of your home phone. If you have a PO Box, use that instead of
your home address. If you do not have a PO Box, use your work address. Never have your SS#
printed on your checks, (DUH!). You can add it if it is necessary. However, if you have it
printed, anyone can get it. 5. Place the contents
of your wallet on a photocopy machine. Do both sides of each license, credit card, etc.
You will know what you had in your wallet and all of the account numbers and phone numbers
to call and cancel. Keep the photocopy in a safe place. Also carry a photocopy of your
passport when traveling either here or abroad. We have all heard horror stories about
fraud that is committed on us in stealing a name, address, Social Security
number, credit cards. 6. When you check out
of a hotel that uses cards for keys (and they all seem to do that now), do not turn the
"keys" in. Take them with you and destroy them. Those little cards have on them
all of the information you gave the hotel, including address and credit card numbers and
expiration dates. Someone with a card reader, or employee of the hotel, can access all
that information with no problem whatsoever. Unfortunately, as an
attorney, I have first hand knowledge because my wallet was stolen last month. Within a
week, the thieve(s) ordered an expensive monthly cell phone package, applied for a VISA
credit 1. We have been told
we should cancel our credit cards immediately. The key is having the toll free numbers and
your card numbers handy so you know whom to call. Keep those where you can find them. 2. File a police
report immediately in the jurisdiction where your credit cards, etc., were stolen. This
proves to credit providers you were diligent, and this is a first step toward an
investigation (if there ever is one). However, here is what is perhaps most important of
all (I never even thought to do this.) 3. Call the three
national credit reporting organizations immediately to place a fraud alert on your name
and Social Security number. I had never heard of doing that until advised by a bank that
called to tell me an application for credit was made over the Internet in my name. The
alert means any company that checks your credit knows your information was stolen, and
they have to contact you by phone to authorize new credit. By the time I was advised to do
this, almost two weeks after the theft, all the damage had been done. There are records of
all the credit checks initiated by the thieves' purchases, none of which I knew about
before placing the alert. Since then, no additional damage has been done, and the thieves
threw my wallet away this weekend (someone turned it in). It seems to have stopped them
dead in their tracks. Now, here are the
numbers you always need to contact about your wallet and contents being stolen: 1.) Equifax:
1-800-525-6285 2.) Experian (formerly
TRW): 1-888-397-3742 3.) TransUnion:
1-800-680-7289 4.) Social Security
Administration (fraud line): 1-800-269-0271 Once again, thank you
Huey Lee. http://www.EnterpriseWealth.com http://www.MarketingOctane.com |
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