Five Alive

In yesterday's mail I received notice that my debit card is being deactivated and reissued due to a data breech at some unspecified merchant. The letter suggested I thoroughly review the last few months of statements for any unauthorized charges. Upon doing so I was relieved to find nothing out of the ordinary--so far, so good. But reading through the letter from my credit union, I couldn't help but notice that it didn't offer any advice on what to do if I found anything suspicious. Of course, I have enough common sense to "report it immediately," but beyond that what would one expect? This led me to peek around the internet for advice. The gist of what I learned, pertinent to my original question, was that victims of fraudulent charges aren't held responsible for charges exceeding $50 (provided, of course, that they report the fraud). I could only hope that in this situation, since the fault would lie with a merchant and not the card holder, the victim wouldn't be held accountable for lesser charges, either. Meanwhile, I also found several resources available for various other id theft concerns. For a quick run-down of various types of identity fraud, how to protect yourself better, and what to do in a worst case scenario, visit the "resources" section at www.debixidentityprotection.com/. While you're there, why not consider whether something like LoudSiren--a service which alerts you and requires your consent before new lines of credit can be established in your name--is right for you?

Filed under: Five Alive