Top Ten Items to Protect Yourself from Fraud

Fraud can happen to anyone at anytime.   Below are the top 10 items you can do this month to protect yourself from fraudulent activity.

  • Instruct all banks and brokerages not to make any changes to your accounts unless they are made by you, in person, while presenting 2 valid forms of government identification with picture affixed.
  • Immediately change all electronic credentials to non-descript passwords that have never been used before and would not have any reasonable connection to you and or your lifestyle. Further, 2-factor authentication must be incorporated.
  • For those that use corporate email for personal use, a cybersecurity analysis must be conducted to ensure that malicious code has not been uploaded into current files, email, and calendars.
  • Consider placing your credit card on a security freeze which will prevent lenders (including credit card companies) from pulling your credit report. This will prevent new lending accounts from being started in your name. The downside, when you legitimately need a credit line – car lease, etc. – you need to unfreeze the credit bureaus, this can take up to 3 days.
  • It’s highly suggested you place your credit on a fraud alert that will notify you on all new inquiries. Further, you can place limits on all credit cards requiring the company to request your permission prior to approving purchases over the amount you designate.
  • Review all banking and credit card activity once/week.
  • Send a written request to the Driver’s License Bureau of your state of residence to place a “Verify ID Flag’ placed on your driver record.
  • Order copies of your passport records from the U.S. Department of State, Office of Law Enforcement Liaison, 44132 Mercure Cir, PO Box 1227, Sterling VA 20166. Passport records may consist of applications submitted for the issuance of a passport or other records such as a Consular Report of Birth, a Certificate of Witness to Marriage, a Certificate of Loss of Nationality, or a Consular Report of Death.
Empyrion Wealth Management (“Empyrion”) is an investment advisor registered with the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission under the Investment Advisers Act of 1940. Information pertaining to Empyrion’s advisory operations, services and fees is set forth in Empyrion’s current Form ADV Part 2A brochure, copies of which are available upon request at no cost or at www.adviserinfo.sec.gov. The views expressed by the author are the author’s alone and do not necessarily represent the views of Empyrion. The information contained in any third-party resource cited herein is not owned or controlled by Empyrion, and Empyrion does not guarantee the accuracy or reliability of any information that may be found in such resources. Links to any third-party resource are provided as a courtesy for reference only and are not intended to be, and do not act as, an endorsement by Empyrion of the third party or any of its content. The standard information provided in this blog is for general purposes only and should not be construed as, or used as a substitute for, financial, investment or other professional advice. If you have questions regarding your financial situation, you should consult your financial planner or investment advisor.

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