Preventing Identity Theft

From the Creve Coeur Police Dept. Crime Prevention Newsletter:

Preventing Identity Theft

If you are concerned about Identity Theft and would like to protect yourself, we recommend that you take three very simple steps to help reduce the likelihood that you will become a victim.

First, you should check your credit reports. There are 3 different credit agencies: Equifax, Experian, and Transunion. All 3 credit bureaus are required to give you a free annual report once a year. You can request this free report from annualcreditreport.com. This is the only website that provides free credit reports with no strings attached. Similar websites provide a free copy of your report, but require you to purchase a subscription to some type of financial service.

Since you only receive one free report from each agency per year, we recommend getting one of the reports every four months. For instance, order your Equifax report in January, your Experian report in April, and your Transunion report in August. This will allow you to constantly keep an eye on your credit usage.

The second step in protecting your identity and credit is to opt out of pre-approved credit offers received by mail. By opting out of these mailers, you will dramatically reduce the amount of unsolicited mail you receive, and ensure that someone doesn’t intercept your credit offers and activate an account without your knowledge. To opt out of these pre-approved offers for free, visit www.optoutprescreen.com.

The third step is shredding your old documents. Identity thieves will look in trash and dumpsters for your personal information. By shredding junk mail and unsolicited offers you will greatly reduce your chances of becoming a victim of identity theft. It is suggested to use a cross-cut shredder.

By taking these three steps and carefully using your accounts on-line, you can be relatively sure that your identity and credit will be protected.

For more information on identity theft, visit the following websites:
Federal Trade Commission
Missouri Attorney Generals Office
U.S. Postal Inspectors Office