Identity Theft
7 Tips to Help Fight Senior Identity & Financial Fraud
Below are seven tips on how you, as a senior, can help protect yourself from identity and financial fraud. It may pay to keep these in mind no matter what your age.
Hang up the phone
- If someone calls asking for personal or financial information,
do not feel obligated to provide it. It's OK to hang up. If the person
claims to be with your bank or credit card company, you can always call
the number you have for them.
Type in the URL yourself
- Don't click on email links or open email attachments, even if
the message appears to be from your bank or credit card company. Doing
so may put your personal information or your computer at risk. If you're
inclined to visit the website, type in the URL that you have for the
business.
Use direct deposit
- Have Social Security and other benefit checks deposited directly
into your bank account. This helps protect them from being stolen.
Be wary of family
- Over 90 percent of all reported elder abuse is committed by the
older person's own family, most often by their adult children. Make sure
those you trust are trustworthy.
Review your statements
- It pays to regularly review your bank, credit card and other
statements, looking for unfamiliar transactions. If you see something
that doesn't look right, call right away.
Shred documents
- Bank statements, healthcare records, and other papers with
personal information should be shredded before you discard them. Make it
as difficult as you can for identity thieves to take advantage of
you.
This information provided by Life Lock, for more information
visit
www.Lifelock.com.