Protect Your Most Important Asset: Protect Your Identity

Identity theft is a really hot topic.  In a difficult economy, unscrupulous thieves find opportunity in exploiting good people.  Technology actually makes the job of identity thieves easier, because there is a lot of information available to anyone who knows how to capture it.  Believe it or not, identity thieves spend a lot of money developing new technology to scam others.  So with an ongoing “arms race” being waged between financial institutions and those who want to steal information, what can you do to protect your most important asset–your identity?

Applying Asset Protection Principles to Your Life

One benefit of having a trust is that it’s private.  Trusts don’t have to be filed and unless a lawsuit is filed against a trust beneficiary, trust creator, or the trust itself, it’s likely that the contents of a trust will remain private.  To the extent permissible, it wise to keep things private.  What other people don’t know about your finances can’t hurt you.  In other words, it’s unlikely that you’ll be targeted by either plaintiffs’ attorneys or identity thieves if it’s not clear that you have anything to lose.

So how can you keep your identity private?  Simple.  Call the credit reporting agencies and ask them to keep your information private.  You can also ask them to have banks and merchants confirm all requests for credit with you personally, at a telephone number you designate, before approving any form of credit.

Fraud Alert Monitoring

Here are the credit reporting agencies that you need to contact to request a “fraud alert”:

• Equifax: 1-800-525-6285
• TransUnion: 1-800-680-7289
• Experian: 1-888-397-3742

Those are also the numbers you need to call if you’re already a victim of identity theft or if, for example, you’ve lost your wallet.  If you have lost your wallet or suspect you are a victim of identity theft, then you also need to call the Social Security Fraud hotline at 1-800-269-0271.

Other Ways to Protect Your Identity

Here are a few other tips:

• Write “SEE ID” on the the back of your credit cards rather than signing the back.
• Keep digital copies or scans of the front and back of your credit cards, debit cards, social security card, passport, and other important documents in a secure location such as a safety deposit box or online with a service like Dropbox or Evernote (make sure you have a super secure password if you keep this information online).
• Enter the customer service/fraud phone numbers for your bank and credit cards into your rolodex, your cell phone, and your email contacts list, so that you know who to call if you lose your wallet.
• Never put your home phone number, a credit card account number, or your social security number anywhere on any check.

We will write more on this topic in the near future, but this information is enough to get you started on the road of protecting your most important asset.  Please feel free to call Lodmell & Lodmell if you have any questions.