Helpful Information

[Gonzo the Face]

Got this in my email this morning. I found it very informative. Perhaps you will also.

I think it would apply to anyone anywhere in the world, including Thailand. [tel numbers excluded]

ATTORNEY'S ADVICE-----NO CHARGE

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

1. The next time you order checks have only your initials (instead of first name) and last name put on them. If someone takes your checkbook, they will not know if you sign your checks with just your initials or your first name, but your bank will know how you sign your checks.

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

3. When you are writing checks 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 check as it passes through all the check-processing channels will not have access to it.

4. Put your work phone # on your checks 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 SS# printed on your checks, (DUH!). You can add it if it is necessary. However, 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 license, 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. Also carry a photocopy of your passport when traveling either here or abroad. We have all heard horror stories about fraud that is committed on us in stealing a name, address, Social Security number, credit cards.

6. When you check out of a hotel that uses cards for! keys (a nd they all seem to do that now), do not turn the "keys" in. Take them with you and destroy them. Those little cards have on them all of the information you gave the hotel, including address and credit card numbers and expiration dates. Someone with a card reader, or employee of the hotel, can access all that information with no problem whatsoever.

Unfortunately, as an attorney, I have first hand knowledge because my wallet was stolen last month. Within a week, the thieve(s) ordered an expensive monthly cell phone package, applied for a VISA credit card, had a credit line approved to buy a Gateway computer and received a PIN number from DMV to change my driving record information online. Here is 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. 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). However, here is what is perhaps most important of all (I never even thought to do this.)

3. 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 authorize 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 turned it in). It seems to have stopped them dead in their tracks.

Now, here are the numbers you always need to contact about your wallet and contents being stolen:

1.) Equifax: 1-800-525-6285

2.) Experian (formerly TRW): 1-888-397-3742

3.) Trans Union: 1-800-680-7289

4.) Social Security Administration (fraud line): 1-800-269-0271

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

Nevertheless, if you are willing to pass this information along, it could really help someone about who you care.

Gonzo

[Misplaced]

Very handy. Thanks for the advice.

[Soju]

One key point that he missed, and many people miss is that for travelers you need to have access to a copy of your passport and all your credit card numbers and contact numbers in case they are stolen. Even if you make a copy and put it in a safe place at home, that likely won't do you much good if you are thousands of miles away from home. So what's very important is that you take the next step beyond just making a copy and making a scan of your passport and email yourself that scan and all your credit card information, etc. so that you can access it from anyplace in the world anytime you need it. However you do need to also be careful when you do this that you don't create a new problem should someone else somehow gain access to your email account and then get all your information. It's too much to go into details about how to protect yourself from this, but for starters you could put all this information into a zip file which is password protected with a different password than your email account and try to disquise the email as something else so it would not be interesting to any unauthorized person reading your email. BTW, simple passwords for zip files and most other encryption are very easily hacked, so you must choose a strong (difficult to crack, meaning long, using alphabet, numbers, and symbols if possible) password or it will be of little protection. You also need to be aware that key loggers are installed on many computers at internet cafes so you should never access your primary email account from an internet cafe except in case of emergency, and then change your password as soon as possible after that from a safe, non-internet cafe, computer. If you must access your primary email account from public computers, then make another email account that you never access from public computers to send yourself this information to that account. But if it's a free email account, remember to keep it active by signing in fequently enough so it's not closed.

Don't forget to include contact numbers of family/friends or any other information in that email that might possibly be useful should you lose everything while traveling.

Edited March 11, 2006 by Soju

[Tywais]

Don't forget to include contact numbers of family/friends or any other information in that email that might possibly be useful should you lose everything while traveling.

Also, if your mobile phone supports it, you can keep photocopies there. Belts and suspenders (braces for the brits) approach is always best.