Absolutely. As you know, I work in residential property management. We process hundreds of applications to rent every year. A large number of them have suffered from identity theft in one form or another. I received this in an e-mail from a friend of mine, and thought I would pass it on. Simple, common-sense, useful, money-saving, headache-preventing, time-saving advice. Granted, it's allegedly from an attorney, but try to set aside your prejudice for just a couple minutes. Besides, attorneys are a necessary evil.

 ---Begin e-mail---

ATTORNEY'S ADVICE -- NO CHARGE
Read this and make a copy for your files in case you need to refer to it someday.

A corporate attorney sent the following out to the employees in his
company. Maybe we should all take some of his advice!

1. Do not sign the back of your credit cards. Instead, put "PHOTO ID REQUIRED".

2. 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 won't have access to it.

3. 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 but, if you have
it printed, anyone can get it.

4. 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. I also carry a photocopy
of my passport when I travel either here or abroad. We've all heard
horror stories about fraud that's committed on us in stealing a name,
address, Social Security number, credit cards, etc..   Unfortunately, I, an
attorney, 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,

received a PIN number from the DMV to change my driving record information online, and
more. But here's some critical information to limit the damage in case this happens to
you or someone you know.

5. We have been told we should cancel our credit cards immediately.
But 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.

6. File a police report immediately in the jurisdiction where your
credit cards, etc. were stolen. This proves to credit providers that you were
diligent, and this is a first step toward an investigation (if there
ever is one). But here's what is perhaps most important of all (I
never even thought to do this).

7. Call the 3 national credit reporting organizations immediately to
place a fraud alert on your name and also call the Social Security fraud
line 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, etc, has been stolen:

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

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

3.) Trans Union : 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. If you are willing to pass this information along, it
could really help someone.

Briana Case

Loan Clerk

Loan Administration Department

Arizona State Credit Union

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Well, I hope you found this useful. I know I did. It's little stuff, small amounts of time, and huge prevention.

Click here for the FTC site on ID theft.

Click here for facts about ID Theft.