Free advice from a Barrister!

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All:

I too was recently a victim of a Credit Card cloning operation, this advice

saved me over $5000.00 easily,

Wilf

Read this and make a copy for your files in case you need to refer to it

someday. Maybe we should all take some of his advice. 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 checkbook, 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 check as it passes through all the check processing

channels won't have access to it.

4. Put your work phone # 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 SIN# printed on your cheques. (DUH!) 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 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. I also carry a photocopy of my passport when travel

either here or abroad. We've all heard horror stories about fraud that's

committed on us in stealing a name, address, SIN, credit cards. Unfortunately,

I, an attorney, have firsthand 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, received a PIN number from DMV to change my driving record

information online, 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). But here's what is

perhaps most important of all: (I never even thought to do this.)

3. Call the two national credit reporting organizations immediately to place a

fraud alert on your name and Social Insurance 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.

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

that you care about.