While it may be convenient to have lots of personal information on hand, especially if you work in a secure facility or are going on job interviews, there are a few items that you should never keep in your wallet or bag – unless you don’t mind them getting in the hands of identity thieves.
Birth Certificate
Recently, I found a wallet with a current birth certificate in it on the bus. I gave it to the driver and hopefully Viola Washington got it back safe and sound. If you carry this document, not only do you risk having to go through some hoops to get a new one, but identity thieves can quickly find out where and when you were born, and use the document, or a forged copy, to get a passport in your name.
Passport
In that vein, don’t carry your passport around. There’s really no reason to unless you’re traveling internationally– and even then you should put it in the safe at your hotel. It’s a very valuable document for thieves, and it is a real pain in the neck to replace.
Social Security Card
You’d think it would be a no brainer, but it isn’t. Please don’t carry your Social Security card on your person. The Social Security number is the holy grail for identity thieves, since it unlocks your financial history. That’s why you have to provide it to order your credit report. If a thief has this number, it can put you in a world of trouble with your employer, with the IRS and with anyone you’d like to borrow money from.
Checkbook
Sure, people used to carry checkbooks around all the time, but that was before 10 million Americans per year became victims of identity theft. Your checks have your name, your address, and your bank account number on them. Unused ones may also have the imprint of your signature, unless you pull your checks out of the book before filling them out. If you need to pay for something by check, tear out as many checks as you need to used and then leave the rest at home.
All of Your Credit Cards
If you only have one credit card, you are out of luck on this one, but most Americans have several, including bank cards, gas cards and store cards. There’s no need to fill your wallet with all this plastic, and it can be to your detriment. If a thief gets a hold of all your cards, he has that many accounts to play with. Instead, only carry the ones you need when you go out. It can help you cut down on your spending as well.
Receipts
While most receipts won’t have your entire credit or debit card number on them anymore, they will have your signature unless you paid cash. This, coupled with your identification can be extremely helpful to an identity thief. If you need to keep receipts, put them in a file, or a shoebox, or anything you have at home. Get that paper clutter out of your wallet at the end of each day – or each week if you don’t make a lot of purchases.
Cell Phone
Nowadays, if you lose your cell phone you lose your life – not literally of course, but it sure can seem like it. A thief with your phone gets the contact information for your family, coworkers and friends. If you have a Smartphone it’s even worse. She can likely access your financial information and other online accounts. Don’t set your phone down in public, and always protect it with a password just in case it winds up in the wrong hands.
Why Worry?
Don’t think that identity theft is mainly a cyber crime performed by uber-hackers in Nigeria. Most of it, about 80%, is still done the old fashioned way through such means as dumpster diving and pickpocketing. I’ve had my wallet stolen twice, but I have never been the victim of a data breach. The first time, the police called me saying a strange gentleman was carrying my wallet around in his wallet and asked if I wanted to press charges. The second time, I never got my wallet back nor even found out what happened to it.
If I had been carrying any of the items mentioned above either time, I would have been seriously at risk. While it still took some hassle to replace my wallet’s contents, it could have been much worse. The biggest loss was my $75 cash, which taught me never to carry more than a 20 again.
Additional Precautions
If you haven’t already, make a copy of every important item you keep in your wallet, such as your driver’s license and credit cards – front and back. If you ever do need to replace them, you will have the relevant account numbers and the phone numbers you need to report them lost or stolen. If you know for sure your wallet was stolen, you should call the non-emergency line of the local police, so have that number on hand too. Keep these copies in a safe, or at least somewhere in your home where others are not likely to look but that you can easily access in a pinch. Do not keep the copies with the original documents. And, of course, do not keep them in your wallet.
If you do lose your wallet, keep a close eye on your credit report. Credit monitoring services can help you do that with minimal hassle. Pretty much all you have to do is sign up and you will get notified of changes to your credit file. That way you get daily notification and you don’t have to do any of the checking yourself, which can be inconvenient and expensive.
Of course, it is better to keep an eye on your wallet so that you don’t end up in this situation in the first place but an identity protection plan is also a very good fail-safe and is surely worth the investment.