What can you do to defend yourself from scams, frauds and identity theft? Whether you think you have been the victim of a fraud or scam or want to be proactive in protecting yourself, here is a list of specific and simple actions that you can take, some just once, to protect yourself and your family!  We have ranked them in order that you should take them:

1. Don’t use or carry a checkbook. Pay by cash or credit card. Paying your bills through your bank or credit union’s online bill paying service (which is usually free) is much safer than mailing a check.
2. Buy and use a paper shredder. Shred any documents that have your social security number or other financial information, such as your bank account numbers, credit card numbers etc.  identity thieves actually go through homeowner’s trash to obtain personal information. If you don’t have a shredder, burn these  documents completely in the fireplace.
3. Freeze your credit!  It prevents scammers from opening unauthorized accounts in your name. Even if your state is one of the few that doesn’t allow a freeze, thanks to pressure from consumer advocacy groups, you can still freeze your files at the three major credit bureaus.  See this page for more information about both freezes.
4. Sign up on the Do-Not-Call List
5. Sign up to block credit card offers from arriving in your mailbox.
6. Don’t carry your Social Security card with you. When you renew your driver’s license, make sure the DMV does not use your Social Security number as your driver’s license number.
7. Use a separate email address when you post messages to any public forum, such as newsgroups and mailing lists. Free email accounts from Yahoo and Hotmail are perfect for this. Never use your personal email address for this purpose: you will be flooded with spam. You can periodically check this email account to see what’s spam and what isn’t. A bonus is that Yahoo’s spam blocker is better than those from most ISP’s! And your main personal email address won’t be as clogged with spam. Some ISP’s, like AOL and BellSouth.net give you multiple email accounts free with your paid service.
8. Don’t give out any financial information, such as checking account and credit card numbers; and especially your social Security number; on the phone or online, unless you initiate the call and know the person or organization you’re dealing with. Don’t give that information to any stranger. In general, it is only required for medical providers, banks, mortgages and credit card companies.
9. Don’t fill out the “win a vacation” and other promotions you see in stores and shopping malls.  That will just get you on a junk mailing list and guarantee calls from persistent, high-pressure salesmen.
10. Don’t pre-print your driver’s license, telephone or Social Security numbers on your checks. And in states that want to use your social security number as your driver’s license number, insist on another method – most allow it.

Drop me a comment if you have more thoughts!
Cheers!
Patrick