•  Do not carry your SSN card. 
•  Give your SSN only when absolutely necessary. 

• Use a password for your credit card, bank and phone accounts. Use something unusual. Make your passwords fun but definitely something you will remember.
•  When going out, only carry the cards that are actually needed.
•  Treat your mail and trash carefully. Shred or tear mail that may have personal information inside and deposit your outgoing mail at the post office.
•  Periodically review your credit report. This report contains information on where you live, where you work, the credit accounts that you have open, how you pay your bills and whether you have been sued, arrested or filed bankruptcy. By reviewing your credit report, you can verify the account balances and authorized activity.        

• Secure personal information in your home.
• Inquire about security procedures at your workplace and other institutions that collect your personal information. Who has access to the information, is it handled securely, how it is disposed of, and is it shared with anyone else. And, ask how your information can be kept confidential.
• Don't give out any personal information unless you initiate contact. Be sure who you are dealing with before releasing any information on the phone, through the mail or on the Internet.
• Keep your purse or wallet in a safe place at work.
• Be cautious when responding to promotions. There are many scams that coax you into releasing your personal information.

 Phishing is a scam that uses spam or pop-up messages.  The scam attempts to mislead you into releasing your confidential information.  Phishing is imitating legitimate companies in e-mails to entice people to share passwords or credit card numbers.

Spoofing is pretending to be something it is not, on the Internet, usually an e-mail or a Web site.

• Forward e-mail to www.antiphishing.org
• Forward e-mail to the Federal Trade Commission at www.ftc.gov
• Forward the e-mail to the “abuse” e-mail address at the company that is being spoofed ( e.g., pages.ebay.com).
• When forwarding spoofed messages, always include the entire original e-mail with its original header information intact.
• Notify the Internet Crime Complaint Center of the FBI by filing a complaint on their Web site: www.ic3.gov

If you have given out your credit, debit or ATM card information:

• Report the event to the card issuer as quickly as possible
• Using toll-free numbers and 24-hour services that most companies have established to deal with such emergencies.
• Request to have your card closed, and reissue you a new card with a different number.
• Watch your account activity and review account statements carefully after the information loss.
• If any unauthorized charges appear, call the card issuer immediately and follow up with a hard copy letter via a traditional delivery service such as the U.S. Postal Service. ( keep a copy for yourself) describing each questionable charge.

• Your liability under Federal law for unauthorized use of your ATM or debit card depends on how quickly you report the loss.
• You risk unlimited loss if you fail to report an unauthorized transfer within 60 days after your bank statement containing unauthorized use is mailed to you for transactions made after that 60 day period.

• Report the theft of this information to the bank as quickly as possible.
• Request your bank close the compromised account and re-open a like account with a different number.

• Install and / or update anti-virus and personal firewall software
• Update all virus definitions and run a full scan
• If your system appears to have been compromised, repair it and then change your password again
• Check  your other accounts! The phishers may have helped themselves to many different accounts: ebay account, Paypal, e-mail ISP, on-line bank accounts, on-line trading accounts and other e-commerce accounts, and everything else for which you use on-line passwords.

• Request that the agencies place a fraud alert and a victim's statement in your file
• Request a free copy of your credit report to check whether any accounts were opened.
• Request the agencies remove inquiries and / or fraudulent accounts resulting from the theft.

 Other member-owner services:

• ATM Cards
• Audio Response Telephone System
• Auto Mechanical Breakdown Insurance
• Bank by Mail
• Car Title Transfer Service
• Club Accounts
• Debit Cards
• Debt Consolidation Loans
• Direct Deposit 
• Electronic Funds Transfer 
• Family Member Accounts 
• Financial Transactions by Mail 
• Free Notary Public Service 
• Health Savings Accounts 
• Home Equity Loans 
• Insured Money Market Accounts 
• Internet Banking and Bill Pay 
• IRA's (Individual Retirement Account)  
• Money Orders 
• MoneyTalk Quarterly Newsletter 
• NADA Used Car Price Guide 
• New Car Price Guides 
• New and Used Vehicle Loans 
• Payroll Deduction 
• Share Accounts 
• Share Draft Accounts 
• Share Certificates 
• Signature Loan
• Single Pay Notes 
• Telephone Withdrawals & Transfers 
• Traveler's Checks 
• U.S. Savings Bonds 
• VISA Gift Cards 
• VISA Classic and VISA Gold Credit Cards 
• Western Union/Bank Wire Service 
• Wire Service

$2000 of Free Accidental Death and Dismemberment Insurance and Option to Purchase More at Low Cost.