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With the Holiday Season approaching many of us will be travelling to share time with our friends and loved ones. We laugh, shop, eat, attend parties and do whatever we can to bring joy to the season. Below you will you find a few "Helpful Hints" to protect you and your family from becoming possible victims of fraud and identity theft. Remember: Children are often victims of identity theft too! During the holidays check those credit reports for everyone in the family!

All the best for a healthy and happy holiday!!


Make the Call: If you're travelling over the holidays take the time to let your credit card companies know in advance.

Air Travel: When travelling by plane keep all important documents with you in the plane. Never put them in luggage others will have access to when you're not around!

Secure Locations: Don't use ATM's from any location except banks and reputable stores.

This will help protect you from temporary and fly by night machines set up to access your sensitive information.

Shoulder surfing: Those who either purposely overhear conversations or look over shoulders for information to "borrow" sensitive information. Take a few extra moments to protect credit cards, driver's licenses and checks from wandering eyes.

Credit card receipts: Businesses must now truncate all but the last five numbers on credit card numbers on the customer copy of receipts. Place that receipt in a secure location in your wallet.

Credit Card Skimming: Credit card skimming occurs when a clerk slides your credit card through a second machine that scans the information from the magnetic strip and stores it until it is downloaded onto a counterfeit card. The golden rule is "Out of sight, out of control."

Information Protection: Shred any receipts you no longer want, especially those with credit card numbers on them. Lock up any documents with financial, credit or social security information on them BEFORE allowing guests into your home for that holiday party.

Dumpster Diving: We all get more mail than we can deal with at this time of year. Take the time to look through each envelope. Don't assume an envelope contains a business gift card or advertisement. It may well be a pre-approved credit card offer or transfer balance check that looks a greeting card.

Online Shopping: Keep a printout of the web page(s) describing the item you ordered, any email messages, and the page that shows the seller's name, address, telephone number and return policies should you have any problems. Never provide a social security number.

In Your Wallet: Minimize what you carry with you. Leave extra credit cards, check books, deposit slips and debit cards at home.

Debit cards are not credit cards: They are a direct link to your bank account. Debit cards electronically transfer money immediately. Don't use bank cards, ATM cards or checks. Fraudulent charges are much easier to remove from a credit card versus a bank card.

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