Free Advice!

[flav]

============Print and Keep it Somewhere=============

ATTORNEY'S ADVICE - NO CHARGE (for a change)



A corporate attorney sent the following out to the employees in his

company.



1. The next time you order cheques have only your initials (instead of

first name) and last name put on them. If someone takes your

chequebook, they will not know if you sign your cheques with just your

initials or your first name, but your bank will know how you sign your

cheques.



2. Do not sign the back of your credit cards. Instead, put "PHOTO ID

REQUIRED".



3. When you are writing cheques to pay on your credit card accounts, DO

NOT put the complete account number on the "For" line. Instead, just put

the last four numbers. The credit card company knows the rest of the

number, and anyone who might be handling your cheque as it passes

through all the cheque processing channels won't have access to it.



4. Put your work phone number on your cheques instead of your home

phone. If you have a PO Box, use that instead of your home address. If

you do not have a PO Box, use your work address. Never have your

Centrelink Number printed on your cheques. You can add it if it is

necessary, but if you have it printed, anyone can get it.



5. Place the contents of your wallet on a photocopy machine. Do both

sides of each licence, credit card, etc. You will know what you had in

your wallet and all of the account numbers and phone numbers to call

and cancel. Keep the photocopy in a safe place. I also carry a

photocopy of my passport when travelling either here or abroad. We've

all heard horror stories about fraud that's committed on us in stealing

a name, address, Social Security number, credit cards.



Unfortunately I, an attorney, have first-hand knowledge because my

wallet was stolen last month. Within a week, the thieves ordered an

expensive monthly mobile phone package, applied for a VISA credit card,

had a credit line approved to buy a Dell computer, received a PIN number

from DMV to change my driving record information on-line, and more.



But here's some critical information to limit the damage in case this

happens to you or someone you know:



1. We have been told we should cancel our credit cards immediately, but

the key is having the toll free numbers and your card numbers handy so

you know whom to call. Keep those where you can find them.



2. File a police report immediately in the jurisdiction where your

credit cards, etc., were stolen. This proves to credit providers you

were diligent, and this is a first step toward an investigation (if

there ever is one).



3. But here's what is perhaps most important of all: (I never even

thought to do this.)



Call the three national credit reporting organizations immediately to

place a fraud alert on your name and Social Security number. I had

never heard of doing that until advised by a bank that called to tell

me an application for credit was made over the Internet in my name. The

alert means any company that checks your credit knows your information

was stolen, and they have to contact you by phone to authorise new

credit.



By the time I was advised to do this, almost two weeks after the theft,

all the damage had been done. There are records of all the credit

checks initiated by the thieves' purchases, none of which I knew about

before placing the alert. Since then, no additional damage has been

done, and the thieves threw my wallet away. This weekend someone

handed it in. It seems to have stopped them dead in their tracks.



Now, here are the numbers you always need to contact when your wallet

etc has been stolen:



1. Visa Card Australia 1800 621 199

2. Visa Card International 1800 450 346

3. Lost Travellers' Cheques 1800 127 477

4. MasterCard Australia (02) 9466 3700

5. MasterCard International 1800 120 113

ANZ FREECALL 1800 033 844

BankWest 131 718

Citibank 132 484

Tamworth Coles/Myer Source 2340 1300 306 397

Commonwealth 132 221

CUSCAL- MyCard 1300 135 538

GE Capital 1300 369 904

Members Equity 1300 654 998

National 132 265

St George 1800 028 208

Sydney Virgin 2000 1800 080 000

Westpac 1800 230 144

Woolworths Ezy Banking 137 288

6. Bankcard Australia (02) 9281 6633

7. Medicare 132 011

8. Centrelink Fraud 137 230

9. Seniors Card 1300 364 758

10. Passport 131 232



We pass along jokes on the Internet; we pass along just about

everything, but if you are willing to pass this information along, it

could really help someone.

[hcca]

I had a massive fight with Credit Advantage Australia (probably the biggest credit reporting company in Aus) that took me a year to resolve and it was their fuckup to start with. I directly requested in writing for verification of any future credit applications on my account to try to stop them screwing it up again and i've never heard a word from them regarding any credit i've applied for since.

So knowing the way they work (or don't work as seems to be the case), it probably wouldn't do much good ringing credit reporting agencies since they couldn't even match my exact name to my license number :roll:

On the plus side, I seem to be able to get credit now so maybe they finally fixed it.

[TD05]

thanx Flav, excellent advice, people pay attention

I had mi ID stolen, the bastard had an AMEX, an NRMA car loan, heaps of parking fines etc, I was up for almost 100,000, took me 4 years to convince everyone it was not me, couldn't borrow 5 cents, it's serious.... just gotta b e VERY carefull it happens a lot more than you think

[iXNAY]

COPY AND PASTE :)

[flav]

Glad I could Help. Pass it on to your family and friends.