Keep a calendar for expected or regular monthly bills so that you'll notice if they don't arrive. One of the first things thieves do is call or change the address on the accounts so that you are not aware of fraudulent charges.
Do not preprint your Social Security number, your driver's license number or your phone number on checks. That gives anyone who receives or handles your checks all the personal information needed to defraud you.
Preprint checks with your initials instead of your name and sign them the same way. An unscrupulous person in possession of one won't know if you are male or female.
Ask your bank if its checks have built-in security coding, if so, order checks through the bank instead of through outside companies or online.
Use a cross-shredder or at minimum, carefully destroy old checks, credit-card statements and financial records by hand. Tear through the account numbers and personal information and put the torn pieces in different garbage sacks.
Don't store old financial records and tax returns in a box in your unlocked garage. Keep them in a secure place where workers, household help or thieves cannot easily access them. Keep current bill-paying files and checkbooks locked up when having repairs done on your home or even when getting estimates for work.
Shield the keypad with your body when using an ATM or when punching in your pin number at a teller window. Always take your receipt from the ATM.
As tempting as it is, don't use the same pin number for all your accounts. Once it is hacked, everything is compromised.
Your social security number is the key to your credit history, your employment history and your entire financial life. Guard it vigilantly. Never give it, credit card information or other financial data to solicitors who have called you. Never send it or other personal information in reply to unsolicited e-mail offers.
Many health insurance providers use your Social Security number as part of your patient ID number and Medicare cards always display your social security number, so carry these cards only when you are actually utilizing health care services. The rest of the time, carry only a copy of the cards, with the social security number blanked out.
If you can't remember your social security number, disguise it as part of a phone number in your address book or personal digital assistant. Never identify it as such.
Ink out credit card information or checking account numbers and information on copies of receipts that you send in for rebates, returns or warranties.
Request your credit reports regularly from all three credit-reporting agencies and check these diligently for irregularities. Request new reports (they're free) to make sure any errors have been corrected.
Don't conduct personal business on PCs at Internet cafés or other public places.
Never provide personal information in chat rooms or via e-mail.
When using a credit card online, make sure the web site encrypts data.
Purchase a virus-protection program for your computer and run it daily. A spy ware program sent by e-mail can search your hard drive for personal and financial data and transmit it undetected to the sender.
Don't give your outdated computer to friends, relatives or charity without having a professional wipe the hard drive clean of all information first. Just deleting the information is not enough.
Drop outgoing mail into a secure postal service mailbox instead of leaving it to be picked up at your home. For incoming mail, purchase a mailbox that can be locked.
Consider insurance, but know that most identity-theft policies just cover out-of-pocket expenses and lost wages. (www.iii.org/individuals/other/insurance/identitytheft)
