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• Keep items with personal information in a safe place. To thwart an identity thief who may pick through your trash or recycling bins to capture your personal information, tear or shred your charge receipts, copies of credit applications, insurance forms, physician statements, bank checks and statements you're discarding, expired charge cards, and credit offers you get in the mail.

• Be cautious about where you leave personal information in your home, especially if you have roommates, employ outside help, or are having service work done in your home.

• Find out who has access to your personal information at work and verify that the records are kept in a secure location.

• Give your SSN only when absolutely necessary. Ask to use other types of identifiers when possible.

• Do not carry your SSN card; leave it in a secure place.

• Order a copy of your credit report from each of the three major credit-reporting agencies every year. Check to see whether any additional accounts were opened without your consent or whether unauthorized charges were billed to your accounts. To request free copies of your credit reports as established by federal law: go to https://www.annualcreditreport.com

Credit Freeze

A credit freeze/security freeze lets you stop the disclosure of your credit report by a credit bureau. Most but not all states offer credit freezes. Some credit agencies offer a credit freeze. As a result, neither you nor anyone else can open a new credit account in your name. A lender or merchant will normally not issue new credit if it cannot access your credit report or score. A credit freeze also prevents anyone from accessing you credit information, so if you actively seeking new employment, a loan, or insurance, you may want to wait until you have completed you search. You can unlock or "thaw" your security freeze temporarily, for a small fee, by using a PIN to unlock access to the credit file. This allows a rental agency or loan officer to check your credit. For more information: FTC Credit Freeze page.

How to freeze credit

Consumer’s Union has an excellent and frequently updated page on all current state freeze laws and requirements, with a link on how to opt-out for each state and sample letters: http://www.consumersunion.org/campaigns/learn_more/003484indiv.html 

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