Hints for consumer will prevent identity theft

Dear Heloise: In a recent column, you correctly reminded readers to think about what they carry in their purse or wallet. The Identity Theft Resource Center would like to recommend the following to your readers:

• Never carry your Social Security card with you on a daily basis. The Social Security card is needed only to show to a new employer and in a few other instances. Otherwise, leave it in a locked box at home. You should take the same care with your children’s Social Security cards as well.

• If you keep financial-account, credit-card or Social Security numbers on your PDA, laptop or other high-tech device, they should be password protected. Loss of such devices with this information is like winning the lottery to an identity thief.

• Check credit-card receipts to make sure that all the numbers except the last five digits have been truncated or replaced with the # mark. This is a federal law. If your receipt has a full number on either customer or merchant copy, black out the beginning numbers and shred your receipt when you get home.

• Students and seniors may need to carry cards with Social Security numbers on them — e.g., student IDs and Medicare cards. A top-10 tip that the ITRC previously shared with Heloise still applies: Photocopy the card, front and back. Cut the photocopy down to wallet size, also cutting off the last four digits of the Social Security number. Store the original card safely, and only carry it on the days you must. You may also want to add an emergency-contact card in your wallet, listing someone’s phone number who has a copy of the last four digits plus your medical history. This may save you from identity theft and could also help doctors in a life-threatening situation.

For more proactive consumer hints on identity theft, visit www.idtheftcenter.org. The Identity Theft Resource Center, San Diego

I love the idea of carrying a copy of your Social Security card but leaving off the last four numbers! You can provide those, if needed. Thanks for the valuable information. Heloise

Dear Heloise: When I buy bread, I take two slices and wrap them in plastic wrap, doing the whole loaf this way, put the wrapped slices back in the bread container it came in and then freeze them. Because it is only my husband and I, the loaf would mold before we could use it all, so now all I have to do is take out slices for whatever we need. I also do this for hamburger buns, hot-dog buns, bagels, English muffins, etc. By putting them in the container they came in, you can see what you have wrapped in your freezer. Barbara, Decatur, Ala.

Dear Heloise: I reuse coffee cans to store birdseed in and also set them outside for toad houses. I store garden tools in them so that I can just grab and go. Michelle Ziegler, Coon Rapids, Minn.

SBlt Send a money-saving or timesaving hint to Heloise, P.O. Box 795000, San Antonio, TX 78279-5000, or you can fax it to (210) HELOISE or e-mail it to Heloise@Heloise.com.

King Features Syndicate