Keep Your Identity Your Own!

Beware! Your identity is valuable! Identity theft is an increasing crime in today's modern, high-tech environment. One of the ways to obtain personal information is going through your trash, or "dumpster diving" as it is called. If you are not properly prepared or take care in what you throw out, you can provide a "gold mine" for the thief. Here are some tips to protect yourself offered by the Michigan Attorney General's office:

1. Before giving out personal or financial information, know how it is being used and whether it will be transferred to a third party.
   
2. Use care in disposing of charge receipts, insurance forms, bank checks and statements, even credit card offers and applications.
   
3. Use caution when placing outgoing mail, such as credit card payments, in your mailbox and raising the flag for the postal carrier. This can be an invitation to an identity thief to steal your mail and obtain valuable information.
   
4. Carefully review your credit card and bank statements for unauthorized activity and discrepancies.
   
5. Do not provide your credit card number or other personal information over the telephone unless you have initiated the call.
   
6. If you shop over the internet, check on security measures before entering personal information or your credit card number and be sure you are dealing with a reputable business. If you don't know the company, check it out first.
   
7. File a police report and get a copy of the report. Credit card companies, financial institutions and insurance companies may require a police report to verify the crime.
   
8. Report fraud to your credit card issuers and financial institutions.
   
9. Notify the Federal Trade Commission. The 1998 Identity Theft and Assumption Deterrence Act directs the FTC to maintain a database of identity fraud complaints and to refer victims to the appropriate authorities.