2008 Simplify Your Life Checklist
By Eve Abbott
U.S. business loses millions of dollars annually because of employees who must correct identity theft (U.S. Dept. of Labor). One of my clients was arrested at work and jailed over a weekend while her children were taken to a juvenile facility because of identity theft crimes. It took three years and $50,000 in legal fees to correct the problems. And then it happened again!
An East Bay business owner had credit card offers picked off by an employee who sorted the mail. By using the convenient "new address" box, the thief collected credit cards and racked up $85,000 in credit fraud in under a month. Make sure you do the "opt out" of prescreened offers check box right away. Whether or not you have elders, high school and college kids to protect, this will improve your credit rating as well!
Have you seen a recent TV ad about a brand new "identity restoration" insurance policy? One ironic aspect of this new profitable insurance product is that the insurance industry is noted for frequently selling individuals' information on a scale too large for mere mortals like me to even comprehend.
Business losses are steadily rising due to fraudulent transactions of supplies and services, for which the selling company often never sees a dime. You can do something now to prevent the same companies who generate productivity problems from profiting off of you and your business!
HOW VULNERABLE ARE YOU?
You can take a quick test at the Identity Theft Resource Center that lets you know your identity quotient, or just how badly you are at risk for ID theft. Now that is motivation! idtheftcenter.org
I guarantee if you and your employees take advantage of my "2008 Simplify Your Life Checklist" that not only will you be more productive, your family will enjoy an improved quality of life as well.
Make 2008 the year you free yourself, your family and your enterprise from wasted time and privacy piracy. Do one checklist item a day, or one each time you pay bills, or one each Wednesday at noon until you have acted to limit risk to your good name. Just do it!
THE 2008 'SIMPLIFY YOUR LIFE' CHECKLIST
- Junk Mail: To opt out of several mailing lists at once, contact the Direct Marketing Association's Mail Preference Service at P.O. Box 643, Carmel, NY 10512, or fill out their on-line form: dmaconsumers. org/consumerassistance.html
- "Do Not Call" Listing: Register online at donotcall.gov or call 1-888-382-1222. You can register your cell phone numbers, too! Don't pay for sales calls.
- Social Security: Review your earnings and benefits statement carefully for errors once a year. Order a free copy by calling 1-800-772-1213. You will also spot if someone else is using your SS number - a common step by criminals and undocumented foreign nationals.
- Credit Ratings and Credit Fraud: Reduce the number of preapproved offers you get by requesting these credit bureaus remove your name from their lists: Experian 1-800-353-0809, Equifax 1-800-219-1251, TransUnion 1-800-241-2858. Every quarter, carefully check your free credit report from one of the three credit bureaus by contacting the only authorized source at www.annualcreditreport. com or by calling 1-877-322-8228.
- Opt Out of "Prescreened" Credit Cards: Go to optoutprescreen.com or call 1-888-567-8688 to protect yourself, elderly family members, college-aged kids and employees from solicitations of creditors. This improves your credit rating, too!
- Government Agencies - Birth, Marriage, Home Purchase and Death: Public records of all our major life events are sold to advertisers. Call the largest dealer, Acxiom, at their Consumer Advocate Hotline 1-877-774-2094 or go to acxiom.com and use the "Contact Us" link to request an opt-out form.
- Terminate Unwanted Catalogs: Contact Abacus at optout@abacus-direct. com or write Abacus, P.O. Box 1478, Broomfield, CO 80093. Supply your address and the full names of everyone in your household and/or at your company address.
- Protect Your Internet Browsing Data: Register at networkadvertising.org to opt out of advertisers selling your browsing "cookies."
- (No check box here. I hope you never have to use these resources. But, you never know ...) Reporting ID Theft or Credit Fraud:
- Equifax 1-800-525-6285
- Experian (formerly TRW) 1-800-301-7195
- Trans Union 1-800-680-728
- Social Security Administration fraud line 1-800-269-0271
- Federal Trade Commission ID Theft Hotline 1-877-438-4338
- The FTC now has an ID Theft website that provides guidelines for victims of identity theft: ftc.gov/bcp/edu/microsites/idtheft/
March 2008 Builder Architect Edition Issue