Feb 28 2007
Watching “Identity Theft” by the State of Colorado
I saw the very end of this program earlier today and got lucky enough to catch a second showing this evening. I’m impressed by this program, it’s not just a fluff piece, it offers very good advice on how to avoid identity theft. They didn’t try to blame all identity theft on computers, but did list them as one of the places people are vulnerable. They state that protecting your identity is an inconvenience, but a lot less so than getting your identity stolen.
The main thrust of the program was the three steps you should take to avoid identity theft, “D E P”.
- Destroy: Get a shredder and destroy all credit offers and other mail that you receive. Also, destroy old documents that you no longer need, such as old bills. The host, Mason Fink, also suggested home owners pay for a document destruction service, but it’s much cheaper and easier to buy a crosscut shredder.
- Eliminate: Tell the credit card companies to stop sending you offers, convenience checks and other mail. If you’re not being sent these pieces of mail, that can’t be stolen. And quit carrying around so many credit cards.
- Prevent: Don’t click on suspicious links or emails, don’t go to suspicious sites, and monitor your own credit records. In other words, be conscious of what you’re doing with credit cards and where you’re using them.
I couldn’t find a link to a site associated with this program, but I’d appreciate it if you can help me find it. I wish California had a program like this. Or maybe someone could create a program like this for a PBS station and get it syndicated.
Technorati Tags: security, mckeay, privacy, identity theft
Excellent post.
I have heard of programs like this in California. Most people do not know that they can call their credit card companies and order them to stop sending all the crap to us, like checks and offers of even more credit!
There really is no reason to keep all the old statements when the credit card companies keep them.