These are good tips for anyone in this day and age.  Pass it on to anyone you care about.    
 
 
THIS IS VERY GOOD INFO,   PASS IT ALONG!

              ATTORNEY'S ADVICE-----NO CHARGE
  
              A corporate attorney sent the following out to the employees in his company.
 
              1. The next time you order checks have only your initials (instead of first name) 
                   and last name put on them. If someone takes your checkbook, they will not 
                   know if you sign your checks with just your initials or your first name, but your 
                   bank will know how you sign your checks.
 
             2. Do not sign the back of your credit cards. Instead, put "PHOTO ID REQUIRED."
  
              3. When you are writing checks to pay on your credit card accounts, DO NOT put 
                   the complete account number on the "For" line. Instead, just put the last four 
                   numbers. The credit card company knows the rest of the number, and anyone 
                   who might be handling your check as it passes through all the check-processing 
                   channels will not have access to it.
  
              4. Put your work phone # on your checks instead of your home phone. If you have a 
                   PO Box, use that instead of your home address. If you do not have a PO Box, use 
                   your work address Never have your SS# printed on your checks, (DUH!). You can 
                   add it if it is necessary. However, if you have it printed, anyone can get it. 
  
              5. Place the contents of your wallet on a photocopy machine. Do both sides of each 
                   license, credit card, etc. You will know what you had in your wallet and all of the 
                   account numbers and phone numbers to call and cancel. Keep the photocopy in a 
                   safe place. Also carry a photocopy of your passport when traveling either here or
                   abroad. We have all heard horror stories about fraud that is committed on us in 
                   stealing a name, address, Social Security number, credit cards.
 
              6. When you check out of a hotel that uses cards for keys (and they all seem to do that 
                   now), do not turn the "keys" in. Take them with you and destroy them. Those little 
                   cards have on them all of the information you gave the hotel, including address and 
                   credit card numbers and expiration dates. Someone with a card reader, or employee 
                   of the hotel, can access all that information with no problem whatsoever.
  
              Unfortunately, as an attorney, I have first hand > knowledge because my wallet was 
               stolen last month. Within a week, the thieves ordered an expensive monthly cell phone 
               package, applied for a VISA credit card, had a credit line approved to buy a Gateway 
               computer and received a PIN number from DMV to change my driving record information 
               online. Here is some critical information to limit the damage in case this happens to you 
               or someone you know:
 
              1. We have been told we should cancel our credit cards immediately. The key is having 
                   the toll free numbers and your card numbers handy so you know whom to call. Keep 
                   those where you can find them.
  
              2. File a police report immediately in the jurisdiction where your credit cards, etc., were 
                   stolen. This proves to credit providers you were diligent, and this is a first step toward 
                   an investigation (if there ever is one). However, here is what is perhaps most important 
                   of all (I never even thought to do this.)
 
              3. Call the three national credit reporting organizations immediately to place a fraud alert 
                   on your name and Social Security number. I had never heard of doing that until advised 
                   by a bank that called to tell me an application for credit was made over the Internet in 
                   my name. The alert means any company that checks your credit knows your information 
                   was stolen, and they have to contact you by phone to authorize new credit. By the time 
                   I was advised to do this, almost two weeks after the theft, all the damage had been done. 
                  There are records of all the credit checks initiated by the thieves' purchases, none of 
                  which I knew about before placing the alert. Since then, no additional damage has been 
                  done, and the thieves threw my wallet away this weekend (someone turned it in). It seems 
                  to have stopped them dead in their tracks.
  
           
  

               Now, here are the numbers you always need to contact about your wallet 
               and contents being stolen:

              1.) Equifax: 1-800-525-6285

              2.) Experian (formerly TRW): 1-888-397-3742

              3.) TransUnion: 1-800-680-7289

              4.) Social Security Administration (fraud line):   1-800-269-0271
  
              We pass along jokes on the Internet; we pass along just about everything.
              Nevertheless, if you are willing to pass this information along, it could really 
              help someone whom you care about.
     
              
 
        
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