I recieved this in email and thought it was very smart. I wanted to share it with all of you.

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. Do not sign the back of your credit cards. Instead, put ‘PHOTO ID
> REQUIRED.’
>
> 2. When you are writing checks 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.
>
> 3. Put your work phone on your checks! Instead of your home phone. If you
> have a PO Box, use that instead of your home address. If you do no t have
> a PO Box, use your work address. Never have your SS! # printed on your
> checks. (DUH!) You can add it if it is necessary. But if you have it
> printed, anyone can get it.
>
> 4. 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 I travel either here or abroad. We’ve all heard horror
> stories about fraud that’s committed on us in stealing a name, address,
> Social Security number, 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:
>
> 5. 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.
>
> 6. 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.)
>
>
> 7. Call the 3 national credit reporting organizations immediately to place
> a fraud alert on your name and also call the Social Security fraud line
> 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.
>
>
> Now, here are the numbers you always need to contact about your wallet,
> etc., that has been stolen:
>
>
> 1.) Equifax: 1-800-525-6285
>
> 2.) Experian (formerly TRW): 1-888-397-3742
>
> 3.) Trans Union : 1-800-680-7289
>
> 4.) Social Security Administration (fraud line): 1-800-269-0271

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