With so much identity thievery going on, it’s amazing that people still feel secure with placing potentially harmful information right there on their printed checks. This is only one of the many ways that identity thieves and outright racketeers sniff out their prey. If for one reason or the other, you become chosen as one of their many unsuspecting victims, chances are these guys will continue with their predation on you until you lose all your money, you become horribly entangled with debt, and that you spend the remaining part of your existence trying to sort out your financial, legal and personal life. So, instead of being complacent with your checking account, why not ensure that these thieves cannot single you out from the masses in the first place.
Here are some preventive measures to keep the wolves at bay.
One: never hand out blank checks. It’s actually surprising how this may seem so reasonable and yet many people still hand out blank checks – mostly to relatives and friends. According to recent studies regarding credit card and cash check fraudulent practices, only 5% are being done by professional con artists; the remaining populace consists of one-time, amateur scammers. These are the people around you (so called trusted friends, neighbors you have known all your life, even very close relatives) who are lured by the prospect of easy cash. After all, what is easier than writing several hundreds dollars worth on an already signed check?
Two: secure your checks only from banks. Ah, yes. The convenience of online banking is such a boon and bane at the same time. You can basically order your checks online and some of these offerings are far colorful and can easily be personalized to suit your taste; which by the way, is the complete opposite of what banks normally do for check printing. Nonetheless, if you get your printed check books directly from the bank, your identification number, (and all pertinent information) are secure.
There are some online companies who literally go phishing for information about your credit history. Some of them will send you legit looking e-mails and ask for your personal information in exchange for some fancy looking check books; and your worst mistake would be providing them the data they need. This practice is as safe as you swimming in deep ocean while trailing blood. This is the very thing sharks would need to locate you, latch on to you and shake you down. If you think that one predator is on your tail, think again. This online companies that phished for your credit info will most likely sell your information (making more money out of you without your knowledge) to other scammers or third parties as they are called. These third parties, in turn, can either be innocuous spammers or nasty scammers who will literally bleed your accounts to death. The bad news is: this cycle of phishing, scamming and selling your info to their parties will continue even when you have changed your account number. Identity thieves can very easily open accounts under your name and plunge a heavy hand into your resources without you ever knowing it.
The moral lesson here: don’t trust these e-mails or online offers asking for information regarding your credit history – not even when they have the most attractive offers of convenience and privacy.
Lastly: do not be scammed by unscrupulous insurance agents. The biggest fraud of all is finding security by subscribing to identity theft insurance. You are actually paying a great amount of money for something that can be very easily prevented. Keep your money, keep your checking account safe; and we can almost guarantee that you won’t need to buy identity theft insurance or checking account theft insurance or credit card theft insurance…
