How to keep your identity safe
- Avoid giving your insurance information or social security number at a test site.
- Ask questions such as “What happens if I don’t provide the information?” or “Where is this information going?”
- Carefully monitor your bank statements in the weeks after testing.
- Read all mail from banks or financial institutions carefully, looking for newly opened accounts. Don’t call the phone number provided in a letter. Call the financial institution directly.
- Review your health plan explanation of benefits and follow up on anything that looks unusual. “When in doubt, call your insurance and say I don’t’ recognize the name of this provider. Can you give me more information?”
- Request a credit freeze from the three bureaus if you suspect the potential for fraud, .
- Place the freeze online or through an automated phone service. Customer service representatives are trained salespeople who will want to sell you credit monitoring.
Source: Carrie Kerskie, a Naples consultant on identity theft, fraud and data privacy