person in a gray hoodie on a laptop

Keeping Your Personal Information Secure Offline

Lock your financial documents and records in a safe place at home, and lock your wallet or purse in a safe place at work.  Keep your information secure from roommates or workers who come into your home.

Limit what you carry.  When you go out, take only the identification, credit, and debit cards you need.  Leave your Social Security card at home.  Make a copy of your Medicare card and black out all but the last four digits on the copy.  Carry the copy with you — unless you are going to use your card at the doctor’s office.

Before you share information at your workplace, a business, your child’s school, or a doctor’s office, ask why they need it, how they will safeguard it, and the consequences of not sharing.

Whenever possible, enroll in electronic statements for you bank statements, credit card statements, and any other financial documents.  Your mailbox is not locked or password protected!

Shred receipts, credit offers, credit applications, insurance forms, physician statements, checks, bank statements, expired charge cards, and similar documents when you don’t need them any longer.

Destroy the labels on prescription bottles before you throw them out.  Don’t share your health plan information with anyone who offers free health services or products.

Take outgoing mail to post office collection boxes or the post office.  Promptly remove mail that arrives in your mailbox, or better yet – get a Post Office Box for ultimate security.  If you won’t be home for several days, request a vacation hold on your mail.

When you order new checks, consider having them delivered to the bank and pick them up there.

Consider opting out of prescreened offers of credit and insurance by mail.  You can opt out for 5 years or permanently.  To opt out, call 1-888-567-8688 or go to optoutprescreen.com.  The 3 nationwide credit reporting companies operate the phone number and website.  Prescreened offers can provide many benefits.  If you opt out, you may miss out on some offers of credit.

Keeping Your Personal Information Secure Online

Know who you share your information with.  Store and dispose of your personal information securely.

Be Alert to Impersonators

Make sure you know who is getting your personal or financial information.  Don’t give out personal information on the phone, through the mail or over the internet unless you’ve initiated the contact or know who you’re dealing with.  If a company that claims to have an account with you sends an email asking for personal information, don’t click on links in the email.  Instead, type the company name into your web browser, go to their site, and contact them through customer service.  Or, call the customer service number listed on your account statement.  Ask whether the company really sent a request.

Safely Dispose of Personal Information

Before you dispose of a computer, get rid of all the personal information it stores.  Use a wipe utility program to overwrite the entire hard drive.

Before you dispose of a mobile device, check your owner’s manual, the service provider’s website, or the device manufacturer’s website for information on how to delete information permanently, and how to save or transfer information to a new device.  Remove the memory or subscriber identity module (SIM) card from a mobile device.  Remove the phone book, lists of calls made and received, voicemails, messages sent and received, organizer folders, web search history, and photos.

Encrypt Your Data

Keep your browser secure.  To guard your online transactions, use encryption software that scrambles information you send over the internet.  A “lock” icon on the status bar of your internet browser means your information will be safe when it’s transmitted.  Look for the lock before you send personal or financial information online.

Keep Passwords Private

Use strong passwords with your laptop, credit, bank, and other accounts.  Be creative: think of a special phrase and use the first letter of each word as your password.  Substitute numbers for some words or letters. For example, “I want to see the Pacific Ocean” could become 1W2CtPo.

Don’t Overshare on Social Networking Sites

If you post too much information about yourself, an identity thief can find information about your life, use it to answer ‘challenge’ questions on your accounts, and get access to your money and personal information.  Consider limiting access to your networking page to a small group of people.  Never post your full name, social security number, address, phone number, or account numbers in publicly accessible sites.

Games and other apps on Facebook and other social media websites always ask if they can ‘access your information’ before they let you play.  If you want to play those games, set up an alternate profile with bogus information and play from there.

Securing Your Social Security Number

Protect your Social Security number and ask questions before deciding to share it.  Ask if you can use a different kind of identification.  If someone asks you to share your SSN or your child’s, ask

• why they need it
• how it will be used
• how they will protect it
• what happens if you don’t share the number

The decision to share is yours.  A business may not provide you with a service or benefit if you don’t provide your number.  Sometimes you will have to share your number.  Your employer and financial institutions need your SSN for wage and tax reporting purposes.  A business may ask for your SSN so they can check your credit when you apply for a loan, rent an apartment, or sign up for utility service.

Keeping Your Devices Secure

Use Security Software

Install anti-virus software, anti-spyware software, and a firewall.  Set your preference to update these protections often.  Protect against intrusions and infections that can compromise your computer files or passwords by installing security patches for your operating system and other software programs.

Avoid Phishing Emails

Don’t open files, click on links, or download programs sent by strangers.  Opening a file from someone you don’t know could expose your system to a computer virus or spyware that captures your passwords or other information you type.

Be Wise About Wi-Fi

Before you send personal information over your laptop or smartphone on a public wireless network in a coffee shop, library, airport, hotel, or other public place, see if your information will be protected.  If you use an encrypted website, it protects only the information you send to and from that site.  If you use a secure wireless network, the information you send on that network is protected.

Lock it Up!

Keep financial information on your laptop, tablet or phone only when necessary.  Don’t use an automatic login feature that saves your user name and password, and always log off when you’re finished.  If your laptop is stolen, it will be harder for a thief to get your personal information.

If you have a smart phone and keep ANY information such as login names and passwords, or receive your email on your phone KEEP IT LOCKED WITH A PASSCODE!

Read Privacy Policies

Yes-they can be long and complex, but they tell you how the site maintains accuracy, access, security, and control of the personal information it collects; how it uses the information, and whether it provides information to third parties.  If you don’t see or understand a site’s privacy policy, consider doing business elsewhere.

Keeping your Debit/Credit Card Secure

• Always keep your credit or debit card in a safe and secure place.  Treat it as you would cash or checks.  Contact the bank immediately if your card is lost or stolen, or if you suspect unauthorized use.
• Do not send your card number through email as it is typically not secure.
• On the back of your card, write “Ask for ID” with a sharpie.
• Do not give out your card number over the phone unless you initiated the call.
• Regularly review your account statements as soon as you receive them to verify transactions.  Contact your financial institution immediately if you identify any discrepancies.
• Do NOT WRITE YOUR PIN ON THE BACK OF YOUR CARD!!!
• If your bank allows you to select your own PIN, don’t use a number or word that appears in your wallet, such as name, birth date, or phone number.
• Ensure no one sees your PIN when you enter it.  Memorize your PIN.  NEVER share it with anyone.
• Cancel and cut up unused credit and other cards.  If you receive a replacement card, destroy your old card.
• Shop with merchants you know and trust.
• Make sure any internet purchase is secured with encryption to protect your account information. Look for secure transaction symbols such as a lock symbol in the lower right-hand corner of your web browser, or “https://…” in the address bar of the website. The “s” indicates “secured” and means the web page uses encryption.
• Log off from any website after a purchase transaction is made with your credit or debit card.  If you cannot log off, shut down your browser to prevent unauthorized access to your account information.
• Safe-keep or securely dispose of your transaction receipts.

Skimming

How to minimize risks posed by debit and credit card skimmers

• Inspecting credit/debit card machines before using them.  If anything is loose, bent or damaged, don’t use it.  You can gently tug on the device to see if it is loose.
• To totally avoid becoming a skimming victim at the pump, use cash when you buy gas!  This may knock down the price per gallon you’ll pay.
• If you must use a debit card, never type in your PIN.  Instead, select the option on the screen that allows you to have your debit card purchase processed as a credit card transaction.  The purchase is debited from your checking account, but you won’t need to enter your PIN–which is what the bad guys need to withdraw cash from your account at an ATM.
• When you are at an ATM, hold one hand over the hand that enters your pin.  When someone places a skimmer on an ATM they often have a mini camera nearby recording your PIN entry.
• Monitor your bank and credit card accounts regularly to spot unauthorized charges or cash withdrawals and report them immediately.  Under federal law, delays in reporting fraudulent transactions can increase your liability for losses.
• This is not just at gas stations and ATMS!  Be cautious at self-checkout machines at any stores.

Victim of Identity Theft?

• Reach out to https://www.identitytheft.gov/ to report identity theft and create a recovery plan.