Preventing identity theft

Q: I keep reading about identity theft as a risk to my finances. How can I protect myself?

A: Sophisticated thieves have turned identity theft- someone uses personal information, such as your Social Security number, name or credit card information, without your permission to commit fraud or other crimes- - into a multibilliondollar criminal enterprise.

According to a 2006 report by the Better Business Bureau, the average fraud amount per case increased from $5,249 to $6,383 over two years, costing people in the U.S. a total of $56.6 billion.

How can you safeguard yourself against this growing crime? The first step is to understand where and how identity theft thieves get your information. Some of the places and methods are:

+Your trash, such as from credit statements which have your personal information.

+By stealing your wallet or

purse. +By stealing your mail or completing a change of address form at the post office and redirecting your mail.

+Overhearing public conversations.

+Telephone scams.

+Email "phishing," a hightech scam using spam or pop-up messages to deceive you into disclosing information such as your credit card numbers.

+Loan or credit applications.

+Files at hospitals, banks, schools, businesses, human resource departments.

+Your computer, by hacking.

+Posing as someone authorized to have access to your credit report.

To combat some of these commonly used methods of stealing information, you should:

+Purchase a paper shredder for bank statements, receipts and other documents that contain personal information.

+Close all unused accounts, such as credit card and bank accounts.

+Never give out personal information over the phone. Instruct young children on what information they can and cannot give out.

+Review credit card statements, utility bills and bank statements for accuracy and for any unusual activity.

+Regularly monitor your credit report, which can be obtained from one of the three major creditreporting bureaus: Experian (888) 3973742, TransUnion (800) 8884213, Equifax (800) 685-1111.

+Use "vacation hold" at the post office for mail when you will be out of town for an extended period.

+Install firewall and virus protection software on home computers and use secure browsers when banking, paying bills or buying online.

+For passwords, use at least six characters- a mixture of numbers, letters and symbols- and change them regularly.

+To avoid "phishing" scams, never reply or click on a link in an email asking for personal or financial information. Legitimate companies never ask for this information via e-mail.

If you are one of the unfortunate victims of this newest crime, there are a number of important steps you should take immediately. If your credit cards are lost or stolen, report this to your credit card companies via phone and follow up with a letter. If your ATM card is stolen or lost, report it as soon as you find out; the same applies for a checkbook.

Contact at least one of the three major credit-reporting bureaus above and ask that a fraud alert be placed on your credit file. By law, any of the three must notify the other two.

If your driver's license is stolen, call the Department of Motor Vehicles and the Social Security Administration, (800) 269-0271.

After you've called your credit card companies, banks and credit bureaus, call the police. While police are relatively powerless to do very much about identify theft, some banks and credit card companies may require an incident be reported before they will forgive unauthorized transactions.

Finally, file a complaint with the Federal Trade Commission, which maintains a database of identify theft cases that is used by law enforcement agencies.

Securities and investment advice are offered through Transamerica Financial Advisors Inc., 1001 Partridge Drive, Ste. 110, Ventura, CA 93003, (805) 339-0760, ext. 105.