Security Sense – Personal Identity & Your Money
A couple things to think about when it comes to keeping your personal information and money safe.
The number of fraudulent transactions occurring each day is staggering. Although many of us have been the victim at one time or another, this doesn’t give a good sense of the magnitude of theft through fraud.
Some examples include: 1) You may have made a legitimate purchase and a clerk then used your credit card number to buy goods or services or 2) perhaps you wrote a cheque to pay a bill, popped it in the mail and someone attempted to access your account at a later date (they would have your bank, bank account and signature by looking at the cheque).
Identity theft can leave much larger and longer lasting problems to clean up.
Tips and tricks to keep your identity and your money safe:
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Carry what you need in your wallet but not cards or identification you don’t usually use (ie. Birth Certificates, SIN Cards or bank/credit cards).
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Minimize the number of cheques or other pieces of paper with account and personal information flowing around the system. Use on-line banking, ABM or telephone banking.
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Set up direct deposit pay rather than receiving cheques or cash.
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Safeguard your PIN numbers and select PINs and passwords that are not obvious.
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Safeguard bank and credit card statements as well as income tax records. Anything that has a lot of personal information.
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Shred personal and financial papers you don’t want to keep.
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Limit your exposure by maintaining a low limit, separate credit card account for on-line or over the phone shopping.
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Check your credit card and bank statements for transactions that you did not complete or authorize.
It’s lousy that it happens but the reality is that it does. If it happens to you, contact your banker and credit card company as soon as possible to resolve the issue. Be prepared for a lot of questions. It will take time to resolve it. Document who you speak to, when and the conversation content/outcome. Your objectives are to regain access to your money as soon as possible and limit/repair any damage to your personal accounts and credit rating. The bank/credit card company’s objective will be to minimize their loss and confirm it wasn’t their client.
Posted: February 16th, 2011 under Money Savvy Tips, Tips & Tricks.
Tags: Money & Stress, Money Systems
