Willistown Police

ID Theft

• Guard your Social Security number.
  

• Monitor your credit report. It contains your SSN, present and prior employers, a listing of all account numbers, including those that have been closed, and your overall credit score. After applying for a loan, credit card, rental or anything else that requires a credit report, request that your SSN on the application be truncated or completely obliterated and your original credit report be shredded before your eyes or returned to you once a decision has been made. A lender or rental manager needs to retain only your name and credit score to justify a decision.
  

• Shred all old bank and credit statements and "junk mail" credit card offers before trashing them. Use a crosscut shredder. Crosscut shredders cost more than regular shredders but are superior.
  

• Remove your name from the marketing lists of the three credit reporting bureaus to reduce the number of pre-approved credit offers you receive.
  

• Add your name to the name-deletion lists of the Direct Marketing Association's Mail Preference Service and Telephone Preference Service used by banks and other marketers.
  

• Do not carry extra credit cards or other important identity documents except when needed.
  

• Place the contents of your wallet on a photocopy machine. Copy both sides of your license and credit cards so you have all the account numbers, expiration dates and phone numbers if your wallet or purse is stolen.
  

• Do not mail bill payments and checks from home. They can be stolen from your mailbox and washed clean in chemicals. Take them to the post office.
  

• Do not print your Social Security number on your checks.
  

• Order your Social Security Earnings and Benefits statement once a year to check for fraud.
  

• Examine the charges on your credit card statements before paying them.
  

• Cancel unused credit card accounts.
  

• Never give your credit card number or personal information over the phone unless you have initiated the call and trust that business.
  

• Subscribe to a credit report monitoring service that will notify you whenever someone applies for credit in your name.
  

• Prevention Tips
  

• Have good locks on all doors and windows and use them.
  

• Make sure your residence looks lived in, not empty.
  

• Leave shades and blinds in a normal position.
  

• Ask a neighbor to watch your residence while you are away. Leave your vacation address and telephone number with a neighbor so you can be reached in case of an emergency.
  

• Test your smoke and burglar alarms.
  

• Stop all deliveries, arrange for a neighbor to pick up your mail, newspaper and packages.
  

• Have a neighbor place garbage cans at the curb on your normal pickup day(s) and return them after the garbage pickup is made
  

• Plug in timers to turn lights and a radio or television on and off at appropriate times.
  

• Turn the bell or ringer on your telephone down low. If a burglar is around, he won't be alerted to your absence by a ringing telephone.
  

• If you have call forwarding on your telephone, forward your calls to a trusted friend or relative.
  

• Don't announce your absence on answering machine messages; leave your normal message on the machine.
  

• Engrave your valuables with your driver's license number and post Operation Identification decals on entry doors and windows.
  

• Close and lock garage doors and windows. Ask a neighbor to occasionally park in your driveway. If you leave your car at home, park it as you normally would. Vehicles parked outside should be moved occasionally to appear that they are being used.
  

• Consider taking valuables to a bank safety deposit box.
  

• Ask local police to place your home on their vacation check list.