10 Important Tasks to Start the New Year Right

If you haven’t made any New Year’s resolutions yet, perhaps you will consider completing these 10 tasks instead. They will help you be more proactive about protecting your personal and financial information.

1. Register for the state and national Do Not Call Lists

• Indiana in.gov/attorneygeneral/2445.htm or 888-834-9969
• Kentucky http://nocall.ky.gov/default.aspx or 888-382-1222 (they use the National Do Not Call Registry, but there is a link to the National Registry on the Kentucky government website)
• Illinois http://illinoisattorneygeneral.gov/donotcall/donotcall.htm or 888-382-1222 (Illinois also uses the National Do Not Call Registry, but there is a link to the national Registry on the Illinois government website)
• National Do Not Call Registry 888-382-1222 or https://www.donotcall.gov/

2. Get your free credit report annually

• phone 877.322.8228
• mail Annual Credit Report Request Service, P.O. Box 105281, Atlanta, GA 30348-5281
• online annualcreditreport.com

3. Review your phone bill and credit card bill carefully each month

see article about cramming http://bbbconsumereducation.com//?s=cramming

4. Put your “stop contacting me” request in writing

• contact individual companies if you have done business with them in the past
• fill out a registration form from DMA Choice & send it in with $1; this will reduce the amount of

unsolicited national advertising mail you receive

• phone 212-768-7277, ext. 1888
• mail (Direct Marketing Association, PO Box 643, Carmel, NY 10512)
• online https://www.dmachoice.org/

• opt out of unsolicited credit card applications
  • 888-567-8688
  • https://www.optoutprescreen.com

5. Memorize your social security and bank account numbers & put passwords on your credit card, bank, and phone accounts

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