Credit card theft - helpfull advice

[auxr]

Subject: Australian Lawyer's Advice - Worth reading



This is really good and valuable stuff to pass on, particularly the phone numbers at the bottom.




1. LAWYER'S ADVICE (NSW) - NO CHARGE (for a change)

A corporate LAWYER sent the following out to the employees in his company:

1. Next time you order cheques, have only your initials (instead of your first name) and surname put on them. If someone takes your cheque book, 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. Place 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. Run the contents of your wallet through 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 (not your wallet). 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 Tax File Number your passport number and drivers licence 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 some numbers which you might need to contact if 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
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
11. ANZ FREECALL - 1800 033 844
12. Bank West - 131 718
13. Citibank - 132 484
14. Tamworth Coles/Myer Source -2340 1300 306 397
15. Commonwealth - 132 221
16. CUSCAL- MyCard 1300 135 538
17. GE Capital - 1300 369 904
18. Members Equity - 1300 654 998
19. National - 132 265
20. St George - 1800 028 208
21. SydneyVirgin - 2000 1800 080 000
22. Westpac - 1800 230 144
23. Woolworths Ezy Banking - 137 288

We pass on jokes & just about everything,
But if you pass this information on, it could really help someone

[itchy brother]

Thanks for the heads up!
Will come in handy if any of us ever have the missfortune to go through this!

[auxr]

Originally Posted by itchy brother

Thanks for the heads up!
Will come in handy if any of us ever have the missfortune to go through this!

Thanka - bit of info should any one be unfortunate to have go through the drama of having their personal details ripped off.

[SB076]

Good advice - Thanks - A mate of mine had this happen to him, but it took ages before he knew - his wallet was also stolen and they changed his billing address therefore he wasnt aware that someone was racking up large bills in his name.

[Autolite]

Great advice auxr.

[GasoLane]

This one was doing the rounds a few years ago.

It seems here that some things have been changed to 'Australianise' it (Cheque instead of the American, Check)

It could have started here http://www.thepriceofliberty.org/05/03/24/worden.htm

And Scambusters checked it out... http://www.scambusters.org/creditcar...revention.html

[Yellow_Festiva]

Good advice indeed.

Scan any important documents, as well as visa's / tickets etc prior to a trip and then email them to yourself as an attachment. This way they are available to you anywhere in the world that has internet.

Be careful of people who call you at home and try and get your first name out of you (ie they call you Mr / Mrs last name). Same with 'wrong numbers'... never say what your number is, rather ask what they were trying to call and then just say 'nup, not me' and leave it at that.

My friend has written on the back of her credit card 'Ask for licence' but to be honest 1 in 20 people on average actually look at the back of it, or my signature, and press the OK button on the machine to accept my sig even before pen has gone to paper so I didn't bother with that one.

Another thing people should do who are connected to the net or have access to the net at work is to sign up for net banking. Even if you don't use it to move money / pay bills etc you can still catch out on a transaction the day it appears online rather than a month later when you get the paper statement in the mail.