Eleven Months Left for New Year's Resolution!

During January, I’ve covered the topics of identity theft, security freeze, credit reports and credit scores.  You may have set your own New Year’s resolutions, but I’ll bet you have figured out that I think taking care of your personal identity and credit record should be one of them.  I encourage you to set aside some time this week, even just 30 minutes to assess your personal situation.  The following week, set aside 30 more minutes to address any issues that were revealed in your assessment.  By setting an appointment with yourself, you are much more likely to get the business handled.  Also, according to some time management classes I’ve taken lately, setting a timer can eliminate the drudgery of a task.  The suggestion from the class was to set a timer for 25 minutes and then take a 5 minute break.  For me, it always seems like I spend more time dreading a task than actually doing it.  The same may be true for you. 

While you are assessing your credit and data security information, you may want to take an identity theft risk assessment test . The risk assessment is broken into sections: checking for evidence of identity theft, destroying sensitive personal information, and limiting access to sensitive personal information.  There are great questions that point you to important behaviors, like checking your credit card statements against your receipts, so that you are able to tell if there are unauthorized charges.  When I looked at the risk assessment web

site, it reminded me that I had a charge on my credit card that I wanted to investigate.  It is surprising how many good practices you can learn from a simple quiz. 

The section on limiting access to sensitive personal information is especially important.  Be sure not to give out your personal information on an unsolicited phone call or allow someone to access your computer remotely.  There are plenty of frauds out there.  If it seems suspicious, it probably is.  If a caller presses you for information, hang up.  If it is a legitimate call, they will follow up using other methods.  You may also want to opt out of prescreened credit offers, phone calls and junk mail.  You can do so by going to the opt-out portion of the Federal Trade Commission’s website.

Another place to be cautious is at the check-out stand.  Do not leave your credit card sitting out where others could see the numbers.  With today’s pervasive technology, someone near you in line could take a photo of your card without your knowing.  I try to keep my card covered while in the cashier’s line right up until the card is swiped. 

If improving your personal information security is one of your goals this year, I encourage you to set aside 30 minutes this week toward that endeavor. 

Opt Out of Unsolicited Mail, Calls, Email

Winter Task -- Freeze! I mean, Security Freeze!

I have lost track.  Maybe you have, too.  It might have been three or four or five times last year.  It seemed that notice after notice came saying that my personal data security had been breached.  From major retailers to a state department to my employer and probably a few entities I really did lose track of, I received notices that my security had been compromised.  In a few cases, “suspicious” activity had been under investigation for months before I was notified, giving someone with bad intentions plenty of time to steal my identity and establish credit in my name before I was notified of the breach. With our digital environment, someone halfway around the globe can be quietly hacking computers for personal data.  My name, birth date, social security number and numerous other details are stored in who knows how many databases on who knows how many computers and networks.  I remember a day and age when a person only worried about their credit cards getting used by someone else if their wallet got stolen.  In today’s world, a person has to be increasingly diligent to guard their financial security. 

Fortunately for me, a long time before all these breaches with my data, I lost my wallet.  I was on my way to 4-H camp and had several youth traveling with me.  In the chaos of getting the last-minute camp supplies and loading everyone back into the vehicle, I believe I misplaced my wallet.  From a payphone (remember them) at 4-H camp, I coordinated with my husband, accessing files at home to cancel credit cards and go through necessary procedures to protect us from unwanted access to our finances. When I got back from camp, I placed a security freeze on my credit.  I had originally read about the Montana Security Freeze options through an MSU Extension publication.  The process was relatively simple. 

The current information about a security freeze from the Experian website states that consumers in the state of Montana have a right to place a “security freeze” on their credit reports.   This freeze prohibits major credit reporting companies from releasing any information on their credit reports without their express authorization, except those with whom the consumer already has a relationship.  According to the MontanaDepartment of Justice website, “It costs $3 to place a security freeze on your credit files with a credit bureau, for a total of $9 to freeze your files with all three credit bureaus. For a security freeze to be effective for married couples, both spouses have to freeze their separate credit files. The total cost for a couple is $18.”  Basically, a security freeze makes it difficult for someone else to apply for a credit card in your name or to steal your identity for financial gain.  A security freeze is designed to prevent credit, loans and services in your name without your consent. 

In the past decade, the security freeze has seemed to work for me.  I check my credit reports regularly and there have been no “surprises” there.  I have also applied for two loans since placing a security freeze and each time, I had to expressly unlock my security freeze, again for a nominal fee of $3, to allow the local bank to access my records.

If you have lost track, too, of how many times you have received letters saying your data security was breached, I encourage you to put a security freeze on your accounts.  

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Resources from the web, curated for you -- 
Or, I've done the searching, so you don't have to ...

Montana Department of Justice: Identity Theft

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