Id Theft Protection

Identity Theft Tips and Information...

The following information is from Mo. Attorney General Chris Kostner's office:

What is identity theft?

This occurs when someone uses your personal information to commit fraud or other crimes. The thief takes your Social Security number, bank account number or other information and causes problems, like taking out loans in your name or charging money to your bank account or credit card.

How do I prevent identity theft?

Don't give out your Social Security or account numbers unless you initiate the contact.

Leave your Social Security number off checks and driver's license.

Shred trash with sensitive information. Including convenience checks and credit card offers you get in the mail. To stop these unrequested credit card offers go to www.optoutprescreen.com or call toll free 888-5OPTOUT (888-567-8688).

Send sensitive mail using a post office drop box, rather than your curbside mailbox.

Carry only the documents and credit cards you need on a daily basis. Don't carry your

Social Security card.

On your computer, use virus protection, a firewall and spyware detection.

Freeze your credit report. By placing a security freeze on your credit report, you make your personal information useless to a thief. When lenders or creditors try to access your credit report, they will not be able to see it. Thus, they won't issue new credit in your name. If you freeze your credit report, you can temporarily lift it when you need to apply for credit.

How do I detect identity theft?

Check bank statements at least monthly -- watch for unauthorized withdrawals and debits.

Check credit card statements at least monthly -- watch for unauthorized charges.

Check your free credit report three times a year -- watch for unrecognized entries. Go to www.annualcreditreport.com or call toll-free 877-322-8228. Three companies participate: Trans Union, Experian and Equifax. Choose which company's report you want -- the law allows you one free report per year from each company. Each credit bureau charges $5 for this service, and you can find instructions at: www.experian.com ; www.transunion.com ; www.equifax.com

What do I do if it happens? Act quickly!

Contact your bank or credit-card company and report it.

Close the accounts you know the thief has accessed, or get new account numbers.

File a police report and keep a copy -- prosecutors need it, and some banks and creditors will too.

Id Theft Protection - News

Identity Theft Tips and Information...

Contact the Attorney General's ID Theft Hotline or Web site at: ago.mo.gov (Attorney General Koster's Web site) or Attorney General's Consumer Protection Hotline 800-392-8222. As always, if you have questions or concerns regarding this information you

Migration from Credit Cards to Debit Cards Could Have Negative Impact on ...

in an effort to protect their credit reports and scores could see a negative long-term impact to their decision, IDENTITY GUARD(R) ( http://www.identityguard.com/ ), a service of Intersections Inc., the leading provider of identity theft protection

Identity Fraud More Prevalent Than You'd Imagine

Learn Your Risk: If you're unsure how exposed you are to identity fraud, you can test your level of risk with a free online tool like MyIDScore.com. 4. Protect Your Personal Information: Signing up with in an identity-theft protection service may be

ID Watchdog Announces Release of Its Free Credit Report Monitoring and Alert ...

PK), provider of consumer-facing identity theft protection and resolution services, announced the release of its free credit report monitoring and alert feature, integrated into the beta version of AVAST Software's avast! Free Anti-Virus platform.

Ask Kim: Should I buy ID-theft protection?

Q It looks as if my personal information may have been stolen in two data breaches just in the past few months, and I'm wondering whether I should sign up for an identity-theft protection service. What do you think? A If you're offered free ID-theft

Identity Theft and Senior Citizens - Identity Theft Protection

There are a variety of reasons that identity thieves pick out the senior citizens for financial exploitation. Criminals believe that the older generations are savers and that they have a higher cash reserve and are less likely to check their credit reports. The reason that criminals feel this way is that they think senior citizens are extremely trusting and would not think anyone was trying to cheat them.

In actuality, the senior citizens feel they are in a stable, financial position and have no need to open new credit cards or apply for loans. By them having this mind set, it makes it easier for the identity thieves to steal their money and personal information with a lower probability of being detected. The identity thieves also believe that senior citizens are naive when it comes to scams, identity theft, and the cyber world.

It may not always be a stranger who drains their bank accounts and steals all their life savings because it could be a friend or family member. The family member could do it by asking to borrow money continually until the senior citizens have no more money to loan out. When a senior citizen is a victim of identity theft , it can be a devastating blow to not only their income but to their own self esteem. They may be too ashamed to tell anyone that they were scammed so the scammer does not get reported and goes looking for their next victim.