Secure your sensitive information against identity theft

You seen that commercial where the guy drives around in a cargo truck with his social security number printed on the side? It caught my attention, particularly because several years ago we found someone else's credit information on my husband's credit report. And he wasn't even born yet at the time those events happened. I've been on the alert ever since--way before identity theft became a public awareness.

I haven't been able to get that truck out of my mind, so I took a click over to Lifelock to find out more. Here's what I discovered:

For $10 per month, they offer protection of your personal information with a 1 million dollar guarantee per person if registered personal information is breeched due to Lifelock's failure, reduced junk mail and credit card offers, and engagement in regular proactive credit protection like placing fraud alerts on your accounts so you'll be notified in the event of a questionable incident. They also offer protection for your kids under the age of 16 for an additional $25 per year.

I'm intrigued, though I'm unsure about giving a company my private information to protect. Yeah, I know, I give it to the bank and such, but I can at least meet these people in person, and it's required. I refuse to give my social security number just about everywhere else, and you should, too.

But there's no doubt Lifelock helps avert disaster so I'm mulling over this service for our family. I doubt it could have prevented the botch on Jim's credit since that seemed to be a misreport of information, but after that, and the rise of identity theft often discussed, how could I not consider Lifelock further? All I have to do is remember that CSI episode where identity theft is a key factor in a case to realize how much damage identity theft can do.

For now, here are free ways we protect our sensitive information:

1. I don't post my kid's names on my blog and rarely post pictures of them.
2. We cross-cut shred anything with personally identifying information on it including envelopes labeled with our names and addresses.
3. We don't put social security numbers on forms at doctor offices and other places that do not need it. IT IS NOT REQUIRED.
   
4. NEVER put your full account numbers on your checks when paying bills even though the stubs tell you to. Accounts receivable will match your information just fine. If you're super concerned about payments getting mis-attributed, write the last few numbers of the account (acct# ending in xxx) on the check and on the pay stub you can write "paid w/check #xxx ").
   
5. Print only your first initial on your checks. Only your financial institution needs to know who is authorized to write checks on your account so this makes it harder for thieves.
   

I'm sure there are more things we can do that I missed, so drop me a comment with more anti-identity-theft tips. While I wait I'm going to try driving that social security number truck out of my head. Brilliant marketing tactic, that truck.

Update: I thought of another important security measure this morning, and that is to use a credit card, not debit card, for any transaction where your card leaves your hand or where you're making a reservation. Credit cards have anti-fraud protection where debit cards do not, as well as the obvious plus that a credit card is not directly connected to your bank account.

If someone fraudulently swipes your card while paying your dinner meal at a register away from you, you can contest it on a credit card and keep your bank account from being infiltrated. And when making reservations, you won't run the risk of overdrafting your bank account when a hotel places a hold on your account for the full amount of your room to keep it until you come and pay. Holds aren't charged, but will make your bank account bounce if using a debit card because the money in a hold becomes earmarked and therefore unusable, and if you don't have that full amount in your account, or you're close but then make regular payments, your account will bounce and you'll incur nasty overdraft fees. Since credit cards are purely credit, the hold only applies to your credit limit.

Just make sure when using a credit card that you treat it like a debit card and only charge what you have money to repay immediately. :-)

Check out more Works for Me Wednesday posts at Rocks In My Dryer.

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Tech Tags: identity theft ~ Lifelock ~ money ~ finances ~ poll ~ security

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