Little Things You Can Do to Protect Your Financial Well Being

I can guarantee you do NOT want to get a call like I got one Saturday morning before 7 a.m. The caller identified herself as being a fraud investigator from my bank and asked if I were attempting to purchase a computer online. No. She then asked if I had attempted to transfer $15,000 (in $1,500 increments, ten times) via Western Union to someone in New York. Again, the answer was NO. And when I was told that I had been the victim of identity theft, my brain could only begin to comprehend how lucky I was that the bank had caught it.

There are some who consider me paranoid, and I guess they are absolutely RIGHT. But then those people have never had to deal with the Secret Service (who were great but who wants to deal with them?) about identity theft. So I wanted to outline a few things that you can do to protect yourself--and your financial well being--from being a victim of a crime that can do years of damage to your finances before you even know you're a victim.

1. Don't Do Your Internet Banking on a wifi connection. Not in a wifi cafe, not in a coffee shop, NOT EVEN IN YOUR OWN HOME ON YOUR WIRELESS CONNECTION. Why? Because, ladies and gentlemen, hackers are out there, sometimes cruising around your neighborhood with their own little laptops that can pick up on your wifi connection. Picture this: you're sitting on your patio, close enough to your router that you can still pick up your wireless signal. And you pay three credit cards, check your bank balance, and purchase a darling little blouse on sale at AnyStore online. Little do you know that your friendly neighborhood cruiser hacker has just gotten your credit card numbers and passwords AND your bank account numbers and password. You log off the internet and chat on the phone with a friend for the next 30 minutes. In the meantime, your bank accounts have been emptied, "you" (or rather, someone using your credit card numbers) have purchased two computers online, ordered a 60" plasma TV, purchased a $1,000 Visa gift card, AND sent $500 to someone you don't know in Tinytown, Oklahoma. You have been a victim of identity theft while sitting on your own patio chatting on the phone. Sucks, doesn't it?

2. Shred personal papers. Let me repeat this: SHRED PERSONAL PAPERS. If papers contain account numbers, birthdates, or ANY identifying information whatsoever, SHRED THEM. In fact, my shredder is one of my closest friends, I share literally EVERYTHING with it! Advertisements for life insurance, order forms for magazines or doo-dads from Fingerhut, "you've been approved" notices from anybody, correspondence from my bank, those checks the credit card companies send you to encourage more spending... IT ALL GETS SHREDDED.

3. NEVER NEVER NEVER give out ANY identifying information over the phone to folks you don't know. Here's the bottom line: the IRS, your electric company, your own bank, government entities, etc. will NOT call and ask for your social security number, your bank account numbers or anything else. If someone DOES call stating they are from some organization, ASK THEIR PHONE NUMBER AND NAME and advise them you will return their call. You can THEN look up the phone number of the particular organization they purport to represent (don't make me call you a fool for turning right around and dialing the number they gave you!) then you can make inquiry as to the existence of the caller. This also goes for internet communications. Your bank will NEVER write you an email and ask for your password; your credit card companies will NEVER write an email requesting information that you KNOW they already have. Use common sense in dealing with ANYONE where your identifying information is concerned. Birthdates, mother's maiden name, pet names, social security numbers, etc., etc. should NEVER be given out over the phone or internet.

4. Get your free annual credit reports. And LOOK at them carefully to ensure that all information contained thereon is correct and is YOURS. If you see information that is either inaccurate or is simply NOT your information--especially check that all open accounts listed are actually YOUR open accounts--immediately notify the credit reporting agencies on the phone and follow it up with notification IN WRITING. I know it's a time-consuming, aggravating thing to do, but it is WORTH your financial peace of mind, believe me.

5. If you have children, do NOT let them give out ANY information over the phone. I actually would advise against letting very small children even answer the phone, but it sounds so cute to grandma to hear their little voices when she calls. Children are VERY gullible and easily fooled. So let's say your 6-year-old answers the phone and hears, "Hi, this is grandma... who am I talking to?" And your little darling replies, "Danielle." Now your caller knows there's a small child named Danielle in the home. Follow me here and we'll play out a couple of scenarios.

First scenario: They have called your number after seeing your address in the phone book. It's a simple search to see what school Danielle attends and what are the hours of that school. Then some weekday morning you receive a call from someone claiming to be with your child's school, telling you that Danielle has been injured and asking that you immediately come to the school. And while you're gone, your home is burglarized.

Second scenario: An older child has answered and engages in conversation about your pets with a friendly voice. The conversation leads to the child revealing the pet's name. The caller now knows your pet(s) name(s). There goes your security alarm password, or some other password clue.

6. Establish a relationship with your banking institution. I realize that many banks are huge corporations and each customer is a "number." Many of these large banking institutions utilize call center representatives in foreign countries to have access to your personal financial/banking data. Ask pointed questions of your bank officers such as where their customer service call center is based (if it's foreign, I suggest making plans to find a local bank whose customer service is local). Once you have developed a banking relationship with an officer at your bank, that person will usually go to an extra length to ensure that your accounts are held safely and that your data is protected and secure.

7. When you plan to travel, contact your credit card company and let them know. Why is this important? Because, for example, if you live in Tennessee and visit Kentucky, your cards routinely show charges in those areas. If charges suddenly appear in Canada, Mexico, Hawaii--literally thousands of miles from your normal location--two things can happen. First, credit card lenders are FORCED BY LAW to be more vigilant about these kinds of charges and you may actually be in Hawaii trying to charge something, only to have your card declined. That's embarassing. But a worse situation is that your credit card has been stolen and someone has taken a vacation on your credit. If you are in the HABIT of letting your lender know when you travel (and thus a location from which they can expect to see charges), then there is a great likelihood that fraudulent charges would be caught.

Other things that will help you protect your financial health:

Have a will--if you own property, have minor children, have possessions you wish to be left to specific individuals, or have any desire to determine how your assets might be distributed at your death, you need a will.

Save regularly. There are many automatic deduction plans that will help in this endeavor, and once these deductions are planned, that money will not be missed. Saving regularly is a gift to yourself that you deserve.

Reduce debt. There are a thousand programs and books about this subject, and I don't claim to be a specialist in debt reduction, so that's all I'll say about it. Reduce debt.

Begin NOW to plan for retirement. You cannot start too early, and if you wait until you're 50 to start planning, you're getting started way late in the game. So start wherever you are--20, 25, 30--start planning for your retirement today.

If you begin to put into place the items mentioned above, you will be taking GREAT STEPS toward your financial well being.

In summary, it is in your best interest to closely MONITOR your credit cards, credit score, and credit reports.