surefire ways to get taken by identity thieves Several years ago, I watched in amazement when the CEO of a major

identity theft protection firm appeared in a series of commercials waving his Social Security card in the air, parading his Social Security number on a billboard through heavily populated urban areas and screaming his SS through a bullhorn as a challenge to those who believed that he couldn!t protect it" #s a result, he couldn!t protect it and became a $%& time victim of the crime" 'hat!s what happens when you knowingly, willingly, almost joyfully put yourself out there as a target for hackers and identity thieves" Most recently, I noticed another person put himself out there in somewhat similar fashion. Our would-be role model gleefully announced to the public that he had achieved the perfect credit score. According to a news release that he issued for public consumption, along with a screenshot of the 85 credit score that he got for free with his !iscover card statement, this e"ercise in self-aggrandi#ement was inspired by his desire to $motivate, inspire and educate others% it is not intended to brag.& 'hen our correspondent (hristine !i)angi wrote a piece chiding the less-than-modest declaration of perfection, since anything above 8 is relatively meaningless in the *uest for getting the most out of credit opportunities, the (+O of a consumer reporting company ,our 85 man- . or his representatives . responded/ $It should come as no surprise that (hristine !i)angi is as0ing everyone else to set their personal credit goal below the standard of e"cellence. 1he creates distractions because she has never obtained a perfect score. It2s very li0ely she never will because she doesn2t want to wor0 hard and dedicate herself. Instead she and the other $e"perts& go out of their way to minimi#e success because they2re afraid others will continue to raise the bar and beat them at their own game.& 3irst, I2d wager that the author of that comment isn2t familiar with the breadth of !i)angi2s wor0 educating consumers on the sub4ect of credit, nor did he carefully read her column. 5he real point here is not to dampen anyone2s desire to strive for perfection in everything they do, but rather to illustrate that striving for a perfect credit score is not a good use of time. 5hat doesn2t mean that each of us shouldn2t strive for e"cellent credit, and wor0 hard to achieve it. 6ut striving for a perfect credit score seems to us more li0e an obsession . one that provides no real benefit . rather than a reasonable goal. If you don2t believe us, read this column titled, $(redit 1core Obsessed7 !on2t 6e.& It2s by 6arrett 6urns, the (+O of 8antage1core 1olutions, one of the biggest credit scoring companies there is. 6eyond all that, the above-mentioned holder of the 85 credit score should consider the perils of oversharing. 6ecause of the environment in which we live, openly providing any information that can lead fraudsters and cyber nin4as to our doorstep is unwise, demonstrates a dangerous lac0 of self-protection, and puts us in harm2s way. 'hile the (+O may have legitimately wanted to inspire people to achieve perfection, in doing so he became an ideal target of an identity thief. 5hat 0ind of over-sharing isn2t even close to the worst e"ample we2ve heard of, but it2s certainly inadvisable.

Some credit don!ts (onsider some other, even more e"treme e"amples of people needlessly putting their credit in 4eopardy/ 9. 5he delegate to the last !emocratic :ational (onvention who was so ebullient about the party2s position on the e"pansion of health care that she couldn2t restrain herself from waving her Medicare card into a networ0 camera, boldly . and unwisely . flashing her Medicare number ,incidentally her 1ocial 1ecurity :umber- for all the world to see. ;. 5he countless individuals who, while in the grips of delirium, feel compelled to ta0e selfies holding their recently ac*uired licenses, credit and debit cards or ban0 and credit card statements ,inadvertently displaying account information- announcing to the rest of civili#ation that they have either ac*uired something of value, or e"tinguished debt. <. 3ashion hounds who will eagerly scoop up the latest rage . clear handbags ,I am sure to be closely followed by clear wallets- . and then fill them with all form of credit, debit or 1ocial 1ecurity cards, not to mention their driver2s licenses. =. >eople who have an un*uenchable thirst for receiving birthday greetings from thousands of $friends,& family, fans as well as fraudsters desiring to want to share the 4oy of passing yet another age milestone by posting their full birthdays in every social networ0ing scenario imaginable. 5. 3ol0s who are compelled to announce to the world on 3aceboo0, Instagram, 5witter . not to mention countless dating sites . the most intimate details of their upcoming vacation, including the date of their departure, their itinerary and their return date. And then, in case anyone missed it, a real-time chronicle of where they are, what they are doing, the food groups they are consuming and shots of their room and the view they are en4oying when standing on their balcony. (on!t let this be you 'hile these e"amples are highlights, these fol0s are not alone by any means. Most of us have been thoughtless about our identities and over-sharing at one time or another. Maybe you carry your 1ocial 1ecurity card in your purse or wallet. Or perhaps you provide your 1ocial 1ecurity number to anyone of apparent authority who re*uests it. Or you clic0 on that random lin0 in an email that 4ust doesn2t seem right, which leads to malware infecting your computer and suc0ing up scads of personal information. If you2re worried that you2ve made one of these or other mista0es and put your identity at ris0, you2re not alone, and you2re not without recourse. 5a0e advantage of the free credit reports to which you are entitled at Annual(redit?eport.com. @se sites li0e (redit.com, where you can get a free loo0 at your credit and two free credit scores that are updated monthly. (hec0 your credit and ban0 accounts for a few minutes each day to ensure that all transactions you see are correct. +nroll in free transactional credit- and debit card-monitoring programs offered by your credit union, ban0, or credit card company. 1hred your most sensitive documents% properly

secure your computer and smartphone% guard sensitive information from people who contact you through a phone call, te"t or email without confirming their legitimacy% and stay away from unfamiliar lin0s or photographs sent to you by people you either don2t 0now or vaguely thin0 you 0now. And contact your insurance agent, ban0, credit union or A? !epartment at wor0 to see if they offer either a free or reasonably priced identity theft resolution program to assist you in the event you suffer a personal compromise. In a world where breaches ,e"emplified by $Aeartbleed,& 5arget and all stripe of individual, corporate and government database compromise- and identity theft have become the third certainty in life, 4ealously guarding our privacy must be our individual missions. 'hile I en4oy a good mar0eting gambit, as well as saluting those who achieve perfection, or who have accomplished a meaningful milestone, discretion being the better part of valor re*uires that we become more covetous of our personal identifying information and better protect ourselves from those who would e"ploit us. If not, the credit perfection we crave may be short-lived