25 Ways to Protect Your Wealth
Keep your wallet lean
1. Keep extra credit cards at home until you need them.
2. Never keep a PIN or password in your wallet. Memorize your Social Security number.
3. Keep personal documents - such as your Social Security card - at home in a safe place.
4. Be vigilant when carrying around important documents. Return them to a safe place as soon as possible.
5. Never leave your purse or wallet unattended. Ever!
Know the hot spots
6. If mail delivery is sporadic or stops altogether, contact the post office to determine if a bogus change of address form was filled out.
7. When travelling, have your mail held at your local post office or picked up by a trusted neighbor.
8. Leave outgoing mail that contains personal information (especially bills with check payments) at the post office, not in your mailbox.
9. Beware of mail or telephone solicitations disguised as promotions offering instant prizes or awards designed solely to obtain your personal information or credit card numbers.
Be vigilant
10. Never give out your Social Security number or account numbers over the phone or by email, unless you have initiated the contact, and have a trusted business relationship with the company.
11. Question suspicious phone calls to you.
12. When asked to give your Social Security number for documentation, ask why it's necessary and insist that an alternate means of identification be used instead!
13. Never throw out credit card receipts in a public trash can. Take them home and shred them.
14. When paying your credit card bills, don't put the entire account number on the check. Just put the last four digits; the credit card company knows the rest.
Tidy up your affairs
15. Buy a shredder and use it.
16. Cancel all unused credit cards and bank accounts. If you're not using them, get rid of them!
17. Don't leave important identification documents laying around the house or at work.
18. When you close a bank account, destroy all leftover checks.
19. Shred or destroy all credit card offers.
20. Shred or destroy courtesy checks sent by your credit card company.
21. Pick up your new checks at the bank. Don't have them mailed to your home.
Plan for the worst
22. Keep a current list - or photocopy - of all credit cards, account numbers and customer service numbers in a safe place, so you can quickly contact creditors and banks in case of theft.
23. Photocopy the front and back of all the cards in your wallet (credit cards, insurance cards, etc.). All of your account numbers, expiration dates and phone numbers will be in one place if your purse or wallet is ever stolen.
24. Read your monthly credit card statements. Keep an eye out for transactions that you didn't make.
25. Obtain your credit report annually... and read it!
* * * * *
1. Keep extra credit cards at home until you need them.
2. Never keep a PIN or password in your wallet. Memorize your Social Security number.
3. Keep personal documents - such as your Social Security card - at home in a safe place.
4. Be vigilant when carrying around important documents. Return them to a safe place as soon as possible.
5. Never leave your purse or wallet unattended. Ever!
Know the hot spots
6. If mail delivery is sporadic or stops altogether, contact the post office to determine if a bogus change of address form was filled out.
7. When travelling, have your mail held at your local post office or picked up by a trusted neighbor.
8. Leave outgoing mail that contains personal information (especially bills with check payments) at the post office, not in your mailbox.
9. Beware of mail or telephone solicitations disguised as promotions offering instant prizes or awards designed solely to obtain your personal information or credit card numbers.
Be vigilant
10. Never give out your Social Security number or account numbers over the phone or by email, unless you have initiated the contact, and have a trusted business relationship with the company.
11. Question suspicious phone calls to you.
12. When asked to give your Social Security number for documentation, ask why it's necessary and insist that an alternate means of identification be used instead!
13. Never throw out credit card receipts in a public trash can. Take them home and shred them.
14. When paying your credit card bills, don't put the entire account number on the check. Just put the last four digits; the credit card company knows the rest.
Tidy up your affairs
15. Buy a shredder and use it.
16. Cancel all unused credit cards and bank accounts. If you're not using them, get rid of them!
17. Don't leave important identification documents laying around the house or at work.
18. When you close a bank account, destroy all leftover checks.
19. Shred or destroy all credit card offers.
20. Shred or destroy courtesy checks sent by your credit card company.
21. Pick up your new checks at the bank. Don't have them mailed to your home.
Plan for the worst
22. Keep a current list - or photocopy - of all credit cards, account numbers and customer service numbers in a safe place, so you can quickly contact creditors and banks in case of theft.
23. Photocopy the front and back of all the cards in your wallet (credit cards, insurance cards, etc.). All of your account numbers, expiration dates and phone numbers will be in one place if your purse or wallet is ever stolen.
24. Read your monthly credit card statements. Keep an eye out for transactions that you didn't make.
25. Obtain your credit report annually... and read it!
* * * * *
posted by Bob Moser at
4:17 PM
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