• At home and at work, secure important documents that contain your personal information where they are protected from unwanted view or access.
• Carry only the necessary cards and identifying information in your purse or wallet. Limit the number of credit cards and checks that you carry. Don’t carry PIN numbers with your cards.
• Sign your credit and debit cards when you receive them.
• Pick up receipts from ATMs, restaurants, stores, and gasoline pumps. Don’t leave them lying around.
• Watch out for shoulder surfers watching you type in your PIN number at the cash register or ATM.
• Safeguard your Social Security number.
Do not carry your Social Security card in your wallet.
Do not pre-print your Social Security number on your checks or driver license, and do not use it on an unsecured web site.
Ask why someone wants your Social Security number and how it will be protected before deciding to give it out. (Financial institutions will require it before they can provide products and services.)
• Protect your mail.
Deposit outgoing mail that contains personal information in a U.S. Postal Service blue collection box, hand it to a letter carrier, or take it to the Post Office if you can. If you place outgoing mail in your own mail box for the letter carrier to pick up, don’t use the red flag to draw attention to the waiting mail.
Remove incoming mail promptly from your mail box and consider some kind of lock mechanism to keep thieves out. Have the Post Office hold your mail if you are going away.
• Use strong passwords to protect access to your sensitive information and financial accounts.
Don’t create passwords using easy to guess or easy to obtain personal information, like birthdates or a pet’s name. Make the passwords unique – e.g., mix letters with numbers and symbols. Change your passwords from time to time.
• Outsmart the "dumpster diver" by shredding documents containing sensitive information before throwing them out.
• Destroy expired or unneeded credit, debit, or ATM cards so that the numbers and magnetic strip cannot be read.
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