Twelve Tips Can Help Prevent Identity Theft

Identity theft is a crime in which someone wrongfully obtains and uses another individual’s personal data for personal or economic gain. Criminals fraudulently use the identity of others to obtain credit, identification cards, driver’s licenses, birth certificates, Social Security numbers, travel visas and other official government papers.

Identity theft can have devastating consequences for the victim, who may face long hours of closing bad accounts, opening new ones and repairing wrecked credit records. In addition, it may take significant out-of-pocket expenses to clear a victim’s credit and legal standing. In the meantime, victims may be denied jobs, credit, access to financial aid or college admissions, housing and auto loans, or even be arrested for crimes they didn't commit. Unfortunately, the experience of thousands of victims is that it often requires months, and even years, to navigate the frustrating identity-recovery process.

USA Funds^® University offers the following 12 tips to help you and your students avoid becoming identity-theft victims:

1. Carry only necessary personal information; don’t carry your Social Security card unless you have an immediate need to use it.
2. Cancel credit-card accounts no longer in use.
3. Report lost or stolen credit and debit cards immediately, asking that those accounts be closed and new ones opened to replace them.
4. Cut up old credit and ATM cards before discarding them.
5. Carefully review all bank and credit-card statements to be sure that all transactions are legitimate.
6. Carefully discard ATM and credit-card receipts.
7. Do not write PINs on any ATM or credit cards, and don’t carry PINs with the cards.
8. Sign credit and debit cards in permanent ink as soon as they are received.
9. Do not preprint driver’s license, telephone or Social Security numbers on checks.
10. Report lost or stolen checks immediately, asking the bank to block payment on any check numbers involved and reviewing new checks to ensure that none have been stolen in transit.
11. Be aware of any missed or untimely delivery of statements or other expected financial correspondence.
12. Review credit reports regularly. Free copies of credit reports are available annually from each credit-reporting agency. Individuals should check the reports for accuracy. In addition, consumers can visit www.annualcreditreport.com to request free copies of their reports.

The USA Funds University online-learning course “Identity Theft” offers more information about the importance of protecting an individual’s identity and how to prevent identity theft. The course is one of more than 40 currently available. Identity theft also is among the topics of the USA Funds Fall-2006 Financial-Aid Workshops, to be conducted Oct. 3-Nov. 16 in locations across the nation.