Monday, January 29, 2007
Security
I just finished my tax return. I finally jumped into the computer age and used Turbo Tax. I never found taxes extremely difficult, and actually like the challenge. But I received a free trial of the software this year and was actually excited to learn just how many deductions were available that I never knew about. YAY!
I had finished up and was already dreaming of ways to spend this new found money; unfortunately, credit card bills kept getting in the way. Despite that, I was ready to click "send" and see how quickly I could receive my return. When I went to pay for the software so that it would send my new calculations to the IRS--that's the hook with the free trial--it said that my card was expired.
Sure enough, I have exactly three days until my card is expired, but the system defaulted to the beginning of the month rather than the end. In a panic, I telephoned American Express and asked what could have happened. Apparently, I received a new card in December. News to me! What worries me is that the same thing happened with MasterCard, a card I never use. Had I not needed to use it for my annual spend-to-keep-it-open ritual, it would have been months before I realized it was missing.
In both instances, the address was correct. My only assumption is that the cards came sheathed in the same overly decorative envelopes usually used for new credit offers. I am sure to rip them up and throw each half away into trash cans emptied at different intervals. This would prevent application without it being through me, as it is only possible to have one half of the paperwork at any time. If I ripped, and the card(s) were on one half of the envelope, I was never the wiser.
I was recently the victim of identity theft. My credit was not affected, but someone used my information to rack up over $875 in online gambling debt that I now have to defend against. While this amount is significant, it is small when considering what could have been.
I usually blog to gripe about the world's latest oddities and idiosyncrasies. Today, let this be a warning to me and to all of you to be more diligent in protecting your identity. Shred your documents. Check your finances regularly. Monitor your credit. When you buy Turbo Tax, you actually get a free yearly subscription of credit monitoring. I highly recommend it. For your free credit report, provided as a government mandate from the three major credit bureaus each year, visit www.freecreditreport.com. You'll be glad you did.
I had finished up and was already dreaming of ways to spend this new found money; unfortunately, credit card bills kept getting in the way. Despite that, I was ready to click "send" and see how quickly I could receive my return. When I went to pay for the software so that it would send my new calculations to the IRS--that's the hook with the free trial--it said that my card was expired.
Sure enough, I have exactly three days until my card is expired, but the system defaulted to the beginning of the month rather than the end. In a panic, I telephoned American Express and asked what could have happened. Apparently, I received a new card in December. News to me! What worries me is that the same thing happened with MasterCard, a card I never use. Had I not needed to use it for my annual spend-to-keep-it-open ritual, it would have been months before I realized it was missing.
In both instances, the address was correct. My only assumption is that the cards came sheathed in the same overly decorative envelopes usually used for new credit offers. I am sure to rip them up and throw each half away into trash cans emptied at different intervals. This would prevent application without it being through me, as it is only possible to have one half of the paperwork at any time. If I ripped, and the card(s) were on one half of the envelope, I was never the wiser.
I was recently the victim of identity theft. My credit was not affected, but someone used my information to rack up over $875 in online gambling debt that I now have to defend against. While this amount is significant, it is small when considering what could have been.
I usually blog to gripe about the world's latest oddities and idiosyncrasies. Today, let this be a warning to me and to all of you to be more diligent in protecting your identity. Shred your documents. Check your finances regularly. Monitor your credit. When you buy Turbo Tax, you actually get a free yearly subscription of credit monitoring. I highly recommend it. For your free credit report, provided as a government mandate from the three major credit bureaus each year, visit www.freecreditreport.com. You'll be glad you did.
# posted by Jay @ 8:45 AM 
