ATTORNEY'S ADVICE - NO CHARGE

Read this and make a copy for your files in case you need to refer to it someday. Maybe we should all take some of his advice! A corporate Attorney sent the following out to the employees in his company.

1. Do not sign the back of your credit cards. Instead, write on the signature space: "PHOTO ID REQUIRED."

2. 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 number, and anyone who might be handling your check as it passes through all the check processing channels won't have access to it.

3. 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. But if you have It printed, anyone can get it. Also, you shouldn't put your Drivers License Number on your checks..

4. 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 locked, safe place.. I also carry a Photocopy of my passport when I travel either here or abroad. We've all heard horror stories about fraud that's committed on us in stealing a passport, Name, address, Social Security number, credit cards.

Unfortunately, I, an attorney, have firsthand 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 card, had A credit line approved to buy a Gateway computer, received a PIN number From DMV to change my driving record information online, and more. But here's some critical information to limit the damage in case this happens to you or someone you know:

5. We have been told we should cancel our credit cards immediately . But 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.

6. 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).

But here's what is perhaps most important of all: (I never even thought to do this.)

7.. Call the 3 national credit reporting organizations Immediately to place a fraud alert on your name and also call the Social Security fraud line 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, etc, has been stolen:

1.) Equifax: 800-525-62 85

2.) Experian (formerly TRW): 888-397-374 2

3.) Trans Union : 800-6807289

4.)FTC (toll free): 1-877-438-4338 or go to their website:
http://www.ftc.gov/bcp/edu/microsites/idtheft/

We pass along jokes on the Internet; we pass along just about everything..

If you are willing to pass this information along, it could really help someone that you care about.

NOTE: Snopes says this warning is true, but some is only half right -- "rather than providing a work number in place of a home phone number, we have to ask why either needs to be included. If a merchant requires a phone number, the information can always be written on the face of the check at the time of the transaction. Likewise, rather than including only the last four digits of a credit card number in the memo field of the check, a better course of action is to leave that line blank. The preprinted slip the credit card holder returns along with his payment is all the credit card issuer needs to ensure payment is allocated against the correct account.

And one bit of the proffered advice is just plain wrong -- listing initials in place of the account holder's first name in the vague hope the issuing bank will spot an improperly signed check is right up there with wishing bread was 39 cents a loaf. We've seen checks we'd forgotten to sign go through our accounts. If a bank fails to question blank signature lines, it's not up to the task of scrutinizing each signature to see if it matches what it remembers of how that account holder signs his name." -- Last updated 6 January, '08