Why Read Your Credit Report?

Recent reports indicate people don’t read their credit report until it is too late. By that time a thief has already ruined your credit. And even though we encourage your to read your credit report as often as possible here are a couple of other things you can do to protect yourself.

Protecting your mail:

• Remove your mail from the box as soon as possible. Locked boxes are no guarantee that they are tamper-proof.
  
  
• Never leave outgoing mail (especially letters containing or indicating that they may contain cheques) in your mailbox, or in a common area shared with others not in your household.
  
  
• Consider direct deposit for any regular, incoming payments or cheques, and automatic withdrawal, for regular payment of such things as bank loans.
  
  
• When you go on vacation, have your mail held at the post office, or picked up by a trusted relative or neighbour.

Protecting your trash:

• Tear or shred, all financially related papers put into the garbage, including: receipts, old bills, charge slips, statements, carbon copies.
  
  
• Never leave carbons, slips or statements in a place where you have accessed a banking machine, or used your credit card. Take them home for disposal.

Protecting you:

• Do not leave your purse or wallet in unattended locations.
  
  
• Keep credit card folders, and your wallet in separate areas of your purse, or pockets.
  
  
• Maintain a record of what cards you have, and their numbers.
  
  
• Leave the chequebook home and carry only the minimum of blank cheques that you may need.
  
  
• Never give out personal information over the phone, such as your PIN, or account numbers. If you receive a call claiming to be from a company you deal with, ask for their name, and call them back. No legitimate company, including banks, and credit card issuers, are going to ask for secure information.
  
  
• Go over all your monthly statements carefully. Even if you “don’t have the time”, you need to find it. Keep all receipts at least until they appear on your statements, and match what your records indicate, against what your statements have listed. Make sure your bank balance tallies against your chequebook or passbook entries.
  
  
• Never carry your Social Security card.
  
  
• Never carry passwords or PINs written down.
  
  
• Never sign a blank cheque or credit slip
  
  
• Always check your receipt against your purchase
  
  
• If you suspect your identity has been compromised, call the three major CRAs: Equifax, Experian and Trans Union, and request that a fraud alert be placed on your file, so that any new requests for an account must be cleared through you.
  
  
• Have your name removed from mailing/promotional lists maintained by credit grantors
  
  
• Beware of phone scams in which you win a valuable prize, but must give information such as your Social Insurance number, to validate your “identity”