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November 8, 2007

Tornado victims warned to protect identity

By DENISE FEDOROW

NAPPANEE, Ind. — Ivan Miller, resident of 706 S. Jackson St., was sitting outside by an RV in his driveway that was parked next to a big hole in the ground where his house once stood.

“That’s what’s left,” he said, nodding toward the foundation and concrete steps of his former home, demolished in Nappanee’s Oct. 18 tornado.

The South Jackson, South Summit and Indiana Avenue areas south of town were severely damaged. Homes were totally destroyed like Miller’s, while others were partially gone or damaged or shifted off foundations.

And papers and documents from many of the homes were strewn over a wide area.

Miller said he wasn’t too concerned about identity theft, certain his wife had taken precautionary measures.

“We tried to prevent it ahead of time. Course you don’t know where your checks went to,” he said.

Miller was not at home when the tornado hit. The family is temporarily living in the RV and is thankful city officials have allowed it.

“The city gave everyone permission to stay in their RVs, but we’re the only ones who moved one in,” he said.

While sitting outside with his son last week on a fall day surrounded by devastation and debris, Miller had a good attitude.

“It’s got to get better — can’t get much worse,” he said.

Preventative Measures

To prevent identity theft, Janet Dorsey, customer service representative of Chase Bank in Nappanee, said it’s important for people to monitor their credit reports and report they’ve been in a tornado to the big three credit reporting agencies.

On the banking side, “It’s good for everyone to notify their bank so we can put an alert on their accounts. We always ask for proper ID and we can put a note on the account to be extra diligent,” she said.

Dorsey said closing out accounts and opening new ones is also an option if that would make the customers feel more secure. Dorsey said her bank has also had people coming in with checks and bank statements belonging to others.

As a preventative measure, Dorsey advises, “It’s always a good idea for people to make copies of important documents and put them in a safe deposit box at the bank. That’s one of those things we need to do but don’t often take the time to do it.”

Placing an alert on a Social Security number is also a smart move. Bob Lambert, a Social Security representative at the National Teleservice Center in Baltimore, had some advice.

“Two really important things we tell folks to do is to call the Federal Trade Commission and enter their social security number into its database. They have a catchy number — 1-877-IDTHEFT. The other thing is to check their credit reports.”

Lambert added, “If they’re really concerned about their private papers blowing all over they can put a fraud alert on bank and credit card accounts.”

Lambert advised calling Equifax at 1-800-525-6285 and have a credit alert put on and also to request a credit report. Equifax should notify the other credit reporting agencies, according to Lambert.

“Another thing that makes good common sense is checking to make sure you receive all your credit card bills each month.”

He said one of the first things a credit thief does is change the address on your card.

When a card holder stops receiving bills, Lambert said some people react inappropriately.

“More people than you can imagine think, ‘Cool — I didn’t get a credit card bill this month’ when in reality this joker just changed your address! Be vigilant that you’re getting all your credit card bills each month and check them,” he advised.

Placing a fraud alert on cards means the company has to notify the cardholder if a new account is opened or the address is changed.

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