Financial Information Services

One of the best things you can do is to guard and manage your personal information. Here are a few tips to help you avoid or minimize the chance of being taken advantage of:

• Never give personal information via telephone, mail or the Internet, unless you initiated the contact to a known, legitimate source.
• Sensitive information should never be sent by e-mail since it is not a secure method of delivery.
• Keep all personal information in a secure place.
• Shred credit card receipts and/or old statements before discarding in a garbage can – use scissors if you don't have a shredder.
• Protect PINs and passwords.
• Carry only the minimum amount of identifying information.
• Call 888-5-optout (888-567-8688) to remove your name from pre-approved credit offers. To help stop most telemarketing calls, call the Federal Trade Commission's (FTC) National Do Not Call Registry at 888-382-1222 from the number you wish to register or visit www.donotcall.gov.
• Order and review copies of your credit report by visiting www.annualcreditreport.com, the only service authorized by Equifax, Experian and TransUnion for this purpose. The law allows you to order one FREE copy from each of the nationwide consumer reporting companies every 12 months. You can also request a report by calling 877-322-8228. For best monitoring practices, stagger your requests to one report every four months.
• If your Social Security number appears on your driver's license, request the Department of Motor Vehicles to assign an alternate driver's license number.
• Ensure that your PIN numbers cannot be observed by anyone while utilizing your debit or credit card at the point of purchase, on the telephone or at an ATM.
• Close all unused credit card or bank accounts.
• Contact your creditor or service provider if expected bills do not arrive.
• Check account statements carefully for any unauthorized activity.
• Guard your mail from theft.

Scams come in all shapes and sizes promising the world and delivering nothing. They are also constantly changing. The old adage says it best: if it's too good to be true, it probably is. The best defense is to educate yourself on what to look for in a scam. Here are just a few ways to help you sniff out a bad deal:

When They Call, Tell Them They are Barking Up the Wrong Tree

Telephone credit card scams are a dime a dozen. Callers offer free gifts for credit card holders in exchange for a little information. If they ask to validate your credit card number, hang up. Or if they inform you that your credit card has been used fraudulently, and then they ask for the code on the back of your card, say good-bye!

This Friend in Need is No Friend Indeed

The "Helping a Friend" scam involves a person making "friends" with you over the Internet. This friend works your emotions and asks for your help to get money to a third person, often outside of the United States (typically Canada, England or Africa). You're sent money orders or checks and are asked to deposit funds and wire a portion to a third party. For your trouble, your "friend" will let you keep some. Yeah, right!

Work-at-Home and Become a Bajillionaire

Keep your day job. Many times these scams are found in magazine and newspaper advertisements requiring "no experience necessary." One characteristic common to these schemes is that you are required to invest or send away money before you can start working.

Investment Always Equals Risk

This promotion offers a unique investment opportunity with "high returns for very little risk." It is often only available to "a very few investors" and it demands consumers make very quick decisions. These investments frequently don't exist at all, and investors lose all their hard earned savings.

For more recent scams you can go to www.fakechecks.org.

The Federal Trade Commission's website on fighting identity theft says that filing a police report, checking your credit reports, notifying creditors and disputing any unauthorized transactions are some of the steps you must take immediately to restore your good name.

A police report that provides specific details of the identity theft is considered an Identity Theft Report, which entitles you to certain legal rights when it is provided to the three major credit reporting agencies or to companies where the thief misused your information. An Identity Theft Report can be used to permanently block fraudulent information that results from identity theft, such as accounts or addresses, from appearing on your credit report. It will also make sure these debts do not reappear on your credit reports. Identity Theft Reports can prevent a company from continuing to collect debts that result from identity theft, or selling them to others for collection. An Identity Theft Report is also needed to place an extended fraud alert on your credit report.

To learn more about these steps visit www.ftc.gov.