NWA-PCUG 09/2000 NewsLetter Article 18861 N. Hwy 112, Springdale, AR 72762-9303 Boca Bits August 2000 IDENTITY THEFT: Online Resources Can Help Protect You by Lee Hudspeth(Reprinted by permission of the publisher. This article originally appeared in The Naked PC newsletter #3.14, subscribe to TNPC at http://www.TheNakedPC.com) The following segment from the original article by Lee Hudspeth may be a great help to all of us. I would suggest cutting this out and filing it in the event it becomes necessary to use. Since the crime of Identity Theft is on the increase remember that an ounce of prevention is still worth a pound of cure. Checklist of what to do when your wallet/purse is stolen. 1.Immediately file a police report in the city in which the crime occurred. 2.Immediately call your bank’s customer service line to report the theft (they typically have a special number devoted to theft incidents). 3.Call each credit card's customer service line to report the theft (they typically have a special number devoted to theft incidents). If you don't have a precise listing of the credit cards that were stolen, it's best to cancel *all* of them, pronto. 4.If the thief now has your home and/or work address, be vigilant. Don't be lulled into a false sense of complacency by the constable's off-handed comments like, "Oh don't worry, we see this all the time. Wallet/purse thieves only want the cash and never come around to your home." (Yeah, right.) 5.If your home and/or work keys were stolen replace the locks immediately. Tell your employer what happened; some employers may have a protocol for dealing with stolen office keys. 6.If your car keys were stolen, you may want to buy a LoJack (if you don’t already have one) or similar device, since changing all door locks and the ignition lock can be expensive depending on your car’s make/model. 7.Consider getting a new Driver's License *number*. Not just a re-issue of your old license, but an entirely new *number*. Your state’s department of motor vehicles probably has a procedure for doing this (ours does), but you'll have to ask as they didn’t tell us about it, our friend did. If you keep your prior Driver’s License, you may continue to get bounced checks for months or years, and it will harm your credit rating. This process may take 6-8 weeks. OTOH, recognize that this isn't a guarantee of no more problems, just one of many possible courses of action that may minimize your woes so use your own judgment. 8.Contact the three major credit reporting agencies' fraud departments to alert them of possible impending fraudulent activities related to your accounts. Equifax @615-386-2200 or 800-556-4711 Experian @ 888-397-3742 or 800-353-0809 or 800-301-7195 TransUnion @ 800-916-8800 or 800-241-2858 or 800-680-7293 or 800-680-7289 (Pardon the multiple numbers, but we’re still working through the agency contacts so these are all the numbers we've gathered to date.) Tell them to “lock you out” for any new lines of credit (also called a "fraud lock"), which will help squelch embezzlement schemes. Once you are confident the storm has passed you can unlock your status with each credit reporting agency. 9.Gather the following documents, get them notarized (where appropriate), then make at least 25 copies of each document. As you receive bounced forged checks from check-clearing/processing companies like SCAN or others, you can quickly assemble a packet for replying to their notices. Also keep a copy of each document with you at all times, should a ven-dor think you suspicious when you’re flagged in their bad check database while you’re in their store. File all of these documents with the three credit reporting agencies, too. *copy of Police Report *bank affidavit of forgery *letter from bank verifying that the checking account was closed due to theft