Security Seeker Fall 2004

Now that the new LIFEcard Services program is in full swing, there is no better time for you and your family to take advantage of its many benefits. Read on to learn how LIFEcard Services can help you protect your LIFE today.

LIFEcard Health...Your Health Advocate
As your health advocate, LIFEcard Health speaks on your behalf when you or your loved ones are unable to communicate, and it ensures that the right people have access to your vital information when time is critical.

LIFEcard Health can benefit your family in non-emergency situations as well. Use the LIFEcard Health database to regularly manage, update and print your family’s doctor information, medical conditions and medications.

For more information, visit www.LIFEcardHealth.com.

Safeguard Your Property with LIFEcard Home
LIFEcard Home provides contact information for your property by Internet and telephone access. LIFEcard Home assures that your property is always looked after. Prominently display the LIFEcard Home decal on your property’s doors or windows and make emergency contact information available to the authorities or to neighbors should an incident occur when you are not there.

To receive a FREE LIFEcard Home account, visit www.LIFEcardHome.com and click on "Register Now." Complete the form and be sure to enter "acct######" in the Promotional Code field where "######" will represent your EMERgency 24 account number. For more information, contact Rick Schubert at rick@emergency24.com.

Get Your Life Back in Order with LIFEcard Secure
LIFEcard Secure provides a “safe place” to store vital information that is prone to theft, loss or damage. Members are provided 1 MB of encrypted space online to store data such as credit card and telephone numbers, passwords, PIN numbers, account information and address books. If your purse, wallet, computer, PDA or cell phone is ever lost, stolen or damaged, you can log on to the LIFEcard Secure website from any location and instantly retrieve your stored data.

LIFEcard Secure uses the same encryption technology as the U.S. government. ONLY YOU will have access to your secure information. From now on, you will only need to remember one user name and one passcode…store the rest.

For more information, visit www.LIFEcardSecure.com.

Preventing Identity Theft

Many people do not realize how easily criminals can obtain our personal data without having to break into our homes. In public places, criminals may engage in "shoulder surfing" and watch you from a nearby location as you enter your telephone calling card number or credit card number, or they may listen in on your conversation as you give your credit card number over the telephone to a hotel or rental car company.

Even the area near your home or office may not be secure. Some criminals engage in "dumpster diving," which means they go through your garbage cans or through a communal dumpster or trash bin to obtain copies of your checks, credit card or bank statements or other records that typically bear your name, address and even your telephone number. These types of records make it easier for criminals to gain control over accounts in your name and assume your identity.

If you receive applications for "pre-approved" credit cards in the mail but discard them without tearing up the enclosed materials, criminals may retrieve them and try to activate the cards for their use without your knowledge. Also, if your mail is delivered to a place where others have ready access to it, criminals may simply intercept and redirect your mail to another location.

In recent years, the Internet has become an appealing place for criminals to obtain identifying data such as passwords or even banking information. In their haste to explore the exciting features of the Internet, many people respond to "spam" or unsolicited e-mail that promises them some benefit but requests identifying data without realizing that in many cases the requester has no intention of keeping his or her promise.

With enough identifying information about an individual, a criminal can take over that individual's identity to conduct a wide range of crimes that can inflict substantial damage on the individual's assets, credit and reputation.

Steps to Prevent Identity Theft
To reduce or minimize the risk of becoming a victim of identity theft or fraud, just remember the word "SCAM":

S
Be stingy about giving out your personal information to others unless you have a reason to trust them, regardless of where you are:

At Home
1. Start by adopting a "need to know" approach to your personal data. Your credit card company may need to know your mother's maiden name so that it can verify your identity when you call to inquire about your account. A person who calls you and says that he is from your bank, however, does not need to know that information if it is already on file with your bank. Also, the more information that you have printed on your personal bank checks, such as your Social Security number or home telephone number, the more personal data you are routinely handing out to people who may not need that information.

2. If someone you do not know calls you and offers you the chance to receive a "major" credit card, a prize or other valuable item but asks you for personal data, ask them to send you a written application form.

3. If they refuse, tell them you are not interested in their offer and hang up.

4. If they accept, carefully review the application once you receive it and make sure that it will be sent to a well-known and reputable company or financial institution.

On Travel
1. If you are traveling, have your mail held at your local post office or ask someone you know well and trust, like another family member, a friend or a neighbor, to collect and hold your mail while you are away.

2. If you have to call someone while you are traveling and you need to relay personal financial information to the person you are calling, do not do it at an open telephone booth where passersby can listen in on what you are saying. Use a telephone booth where you can close the door or wait until you are at a less public location to call.

C
Check your financial information regularly:

What Should Be There
1. If you have bank or credit card accounts, you should be receiving monthly statements that list transactions for the most recent month or reporting period.

2. If you are not receiving monthly statements for your accounts, call the financial institution or the credit card company immediately and ask about it.

3. If you are told that your statements are being mailed to another address that you have not authorized, tell the financial institution or credit card representative immediately that you did not authorize the change of address and that someone may be improperly using your accounts. You should also ask for copies of all statements and debit or charge transactions that have occurred since the last statement you received to determine if the transactions were fraudulent.

What Should Not Be There
1. If someone has obtained your financial data and has made unauthorized debits or charges against your financial accounts, checking your monthly statements carefully may be the quickest way for you to find out.

2. If someone has managed to gain access to your mail or to your other personal data and opened credit cards in your name or taken any funds from your bank account, contact your financial institution or credit card company immediately to report those transactions and to request further action.

A
Ask periodically for a copy of your credit report. Your credit report should list all bank and financial accounts under your name, and it will provide other indications of whether someone has wrongfully opened or used any accounts in your name.

M
Maintain careful records of your banking and financial accounts. Even though financial institutions are required to maintain copies of your checks, debit transactions and similar transactions for five years, you should retain your monthly statements and checks for at least one year. If you need to dispute a particular check or transaction, especially if they purport to bear your signatures, your original records will be more immediately accessible and useful to the institutions that you have contacted.

Even if you take all of these steps, it is still possible for you to become a victim of identity theft. Records containing your personal data, such as credit-card receipts or car-rental agreements, may be found by or shared with someone who decides to use your data for fraudulent purposes.

If you think you have become a victim of identity theft or fraud, act immediately to minimize the damage to your personal funds, financial accounts and reputation.

For more information, visit www.usdoj.gov/criminal/fraud/idtheft.html.

Halloween is an important time to be extra vigilant for possible safety hazards. Follow the tips below to ensure that your children have a happy and safe Halloween:

Costume Safety

Choose a costume that is made of flame-retardant material.
Costumes should be short enough so that they do not cause your child to trip and fall.
For good visibility, add some reflective tape to the costume or bag your child is using to carry candy or make/choose a costume made out of bright material that is visible in the dark.
Masks should fit securely, allow your child to see well and not hinder visibility.
If using face paint, make sure that it is nontoxic and hypoallergenic.
Knives, swords and other props should be made of a flexible material so that they do not pose a hazard if fallen on.

Trick-or-Treating Safety

Children should be well-supervised by an adult when trick-or-treating. Older children should trick-or-treat in large groups in well-known neighborhoods.
Carry a flashlight.
Stick to well-lit houses in familiar neighborhoods only.
Follow traffic signals and the rules of the road.
Drive slowly.
Avoid taking shortcuts across backyards or alleys. Stick to the sidewalks of well-lit streets.

Candy Safety

Instruct your children to bring all candy home before eating it so that you can carefully inspect it for tampering. Children should not snack while they are out trick-or-treating before parents have had a chance to inspect the treats. To help prevent children from munching, give them a snack or a light meal before they go--do not send them out on an empty stomach.
Tell children not to accept or to eat anything that is not commercially wrapped.
Throw out candy or treats that are homemade, unwrapped or if they appear to have been tampered with (pinholes in wrappers, torn wrappers, etc.).
Parents of young children should remove any choking hazards such as gum, peanuts, hard candies or small toys.
Wash all fresh fruit thoroughly and inspect it for holes, including small punctures. Cut fruit open before allowing children to eat it.

General Safety Tips

Homeowners should prepare their home for trick-or-treaters by removing obstacles from the front yard, restraining dogs and other animals and lighting the house well.
Provide treats like individually wrapped candy or offer non-food treats such as stickers and erasers.
Artificial lights and candles are a safer alternative to real candles with a flame that can pose a fire hazard.
If you plan to attend an adult Halloween party, do not drink and drive. Use a designated driver if alcohol will be served at the party.

When you travel abroad, the odds are in your favor that you will have a safe and incident-free trip. However, crime and violence, as well as unexpected difficulties, do happen to U.S. citizens in all parts of the world. The following travel tips are Part II of a series on how you can avoid serious difficulties during your trip abroad.

What to Leave Behind

1. Do not bring anything that you would hate to lose. Leave the following at home:
    --valuable or expensive-looking jewelry
    --irreplaceable family objects
    --all unnecessary credit cards
    --Social Security card, library cards and similar items, which you may routinely carry in your wallet

2. Leave a copy of your itinerary with family or friends at home in case they need to contact you in an emergency.

Things to Bring AND to Leave Behind

1. Make two photocopies of your passport identification page, airline tickets, driver's license and the credit cards that you plan to bring with you. Leave one photocopy of this data with family or friends at home and pack the other copy in a place separate from where you carry your valuables.

2. Leave a copy of the serial numbers of your travelers' checks with a friend or relative at home. Carry your copy with you in a separate place, and as you cash the checks, cross them off the list.

For more information, visit www.state.gov/travel/.

AAMCO Transmission called to thank the entire EMERgency 24 staff for their quick response to multiple burglar alarms received on August 30, 2004 at 4:07 a.m. AAMCO especially wanted to thank EMERgency 24 employee Richel Roland for immediately dispatching the police. Once they arrived at the premise, the police learned that a brick was used to gain entry. However, because of EMERgency 24’s immediate response, the only stolen item was a candy machine and not thousands of dollars in tools and automotive materials.

The owner of Enterprise Rent-a-Car in Alabama called to thank the entire EMERgency 24 staff for their prompt response to the burglar alarms received on the morning of July 28, 2004. The owner especially wanted to thank EMERgency 24 employee Lamarion Ziegler for his speedy response in calling the police. As a result, the only item stolen was a laptop computer.

Mike Akiya of the PMC Group wrote to compliment the entire EMERgency 24 staff on the "good job" they did in contacting the PMC Group during a rash of boiler shutdowns.

If you have a success story that you would like to share with your central station and with other security-minded people, please e-mail us.

Contact Information

The Security Seeker is a customer service publication designed for security-minded consumers. If you have any questions, suggestions for improvement or success stories, please contact Jolinda Cappello at (773) 725-0222 or (800) 827-3624, extension 6033. Visit our web site at www.ursecure.com.