Your Money: Fraud Watch
WALLET AUDIT
Consider these moves now—before it’s lost or stolen
The modern wallet should be slim, light and modestly populated. Many of the informational items we once carried can be accessed on our phones. If stolen, an overstuffed wallet can provide crooks with information and tools that may lead to theft that spreads far beyond the cash the wallet contained. Here are some steps to consider to mitigate that risk.
1. Prune your cash. There’s rarely reason to carry large amounts anymore. Think through actual cash needs, plus an appropriate cushion in case of emergency (say, you need a taxi home and it won’t take your credit card), and carry just that much. Replenish as needed.
2. Choose one credit card and one debit card you wish to use the most, and leave the others at home. Multiple credit cards are a gold mine for criminals, who can easily charge items online or send runners to different stores. (See the May issue of the AARP Bulletin to learn how to store credit cards on your smartphone.)
3. Take everything out of your wallet and sort it all, with an eye to paring it way back. Remove old receipts, business cards, single-store credit cards and rewards cards.
4. Consider carrying a wallet “multi-tool.” Made from sheet metal and credit-card-size, it turns screws, opens bottles and helps with small emergencies.
5. Copy the front and back of all the health cards you’ve chosen to carry and store copies in a safe place.
6. Electronic wallet trackers are available, but most have a range of 400 feet or less. They are more for finding a lost wallet than for a theft. Likely you can skip.
7. Think about losing the photos as well. Don’t tip off criminals to your family or standard of living. Best to show off the grandkids or vacation shots via digital images in a secure repository you can access on your phone.
8. In particular, remove your Social Security card. You do not need it for daily use, and criminals can use it to open lines of credit in your name or sell it to another criminal for use.
9. Do not carry a house key in your wallet. Assume crooks will find your address from the contents and quickly show up there.
10. What’s typically left? A credit card, a debit card, a driver’s license or state ID, health insurance cards (other than Medicare), a modest sum of cash, and not much more.
11. Never carry a blank check in your wallet. The days when you might need one for a purchase are mostly in the past.
12. Only carry your Medicare card when you are headed to an appointment that might require it. In the wrong hands, your Medicare number may be used for a variety of scams, including filing for false claims and reimbursement.
Amy Nofziger has served as AARP’s director of fraud victim support for nearly two decades. She writes frequently on fraud prevention.
Have questions related to scams? Call the AARP Fraud Watch Network Helpline toll-free at 877-908-3360. For the latest fraud news and advice, go to aarp.org/fraudwatchnetwork.