When you've finished your holiday catalogue shopping, be careful what you do with those catalogues.
It's not the dozens of catalogues arriving in the mail but what credit card companies put inside.
Jim Rabbitt, Director of the state Consumer Protection Office, says those catalogues often contained pre-approved credit card applications. Easy for you to apply but also easy for ID thieves to steal. We often just toss those catalogues out without thinking who may be looking for our name, address and credit card application.
Rabbitt says before we toss the magazine or catalogue, destroy the applications and take the address labels off so no one can open an account in your name and start charging to your “fake” account. No one in Wisconsin has complained of ID theft yet but it's a growing problem out west Rabbitt hopes won't be moving here.
idmagva101106.mp3 (389k)