Identity Theft Can be Over the River and Through the Woods
In this holiday season, along with stuffing the turkey for an annual Thanksgiving meal, what else might be stuffed? Our wallets. With the holiday season looming on the horizon and sales galore barreling towards us, what else are we to do but shop?
As we shop the sales, identity thieves are shopping for our lives. Much like we pick out the best deals and steals during holiday sales, identity thieves are also shopping for the best deals. For an identity thief, the ultimate ‘steal’ is a purse or wallet. Why? Our wallets and purses contain a plethora of personal information just ripe for the picking. Think about it, most of our wallets and purses contain an assortment of items from credit cards and sippy-cups to social security cards, checkbooks, and the occasional family photo. If you were in the business of shopping for identities, wouldn’t you want a ‘one-stop-shop’ for all your identity theft needs? Of course you would. Wallets and purses provide identity thieves with just that service. A purse or wallet can contain our life. If a thief were to acquire our purse or wallet, besides the occasional crumpled gum wrapper or receipt, they would have access to our driver’s license, credit cards, bank account information, checkbook, social security number, insurance information and perhaps even information about our children and their identities.
How do we protect ourselves? With all the ‘stuff’ we carry, do we each know EXACTLY what is actually in our possession at any one time? Probably not. Therefore, it seems to be a great time, not only to inventory what we each carry, but to identify those items that are unnecessary for day to day transport on our person. Here are some tips to keep in mind while cleaning:
- Do not carry your Social Security Card
- Do not carry birth certificates or passports (or copies of them)
- Only carry one or two credit cards
- Carry minimal amounts of cash
- Make copies of every card you carry and keep the cards you’re not carrying, along with the copies of the cards you do carry, in a safety deposit box, or locked filing cabinet
For the simple fact that an identity can be stolen easily and quickly with the right information, and the fact that ALL that personal information can be acquired through a purse or wallet, wouldn’t it make sense to protect and guard that valuable information? Sure it would. However, even when we’ve done our best to keep our personal information personal, sometimes our information gets stolen anyway. Wouldn’t it be nice if someone would restore all our personal identification items and credit cards as if nothing had ever happened? Of course! That’s what WalletLock is for. On top of the holiday stress and making sure Aunt Betty doesn’t have to sit next to cousin Jerry at Thanksgiving, or that the turkey will come out alright, you don’t need to deal with an identity theft issue too. WalletLock will go the extra mile, even over the river and through the woods, to take care of your identity restoration process and help make Thanksgiving a little more thankful this year! Thanks LifeLock!
~Christina Hall (Miss New Mexico 2006)
