“TOP TEN PRIVACY TIPS”
TO PROTECT AND SAFEGUARD YOU AND YOUR PERSONAL OR COMPANY’S PUBLIC INFORMATION
We often get asked about how to protect yourself while using your credit card on the web, how to reduce the amount of spam in your email inbox, and how to lock out hackers and viruses from attacking your computer. Between firewalls, virus protection software, common sense, etc., We have given several solutions customized for each business, customer, friend, and family member.
Protecting yourself from credit card fraud on the Internet, virus infections, or hackers goes hand-in-hand with protecting yourself in MANY other ways too. Identity theft is on the rise in our nation, and most of the time this can be avoided or deterred by simply knowing how to make yourself a lot more "private" with your personal or company’s information (which unfortunately, the majority of this information IS in fact totally public).
 1) The Direct Marketing Association Web Site: http://www.the-dma.org/ - This web site is where you can go to help reduce the amount of direct junk mail you receive in your residential mailbox. It also has areas where you can "Opt-Out" of email and phone telemarketers. Once you go to their web site, click on the "For Consumers" area and choose "Remove My Name From Marketing Lists".
2) The Do Not Call Government Web Site: https://www.donotcall.gov - Most of you know about this site. This is where you can register/enter up to 3 separate phone numbers to be taken off of the National Telemarketers Phone List. NOTE: You will receive an email confirmation from the web site which you must respond to in order to complete your request. You can also file a complaint against repeat telemarketers who do not abide by your wishes for them to stop calling you. Just take down the phone number of the repeat offender using your Caller ID function if you have it and report it to the government using the same https://www.donotcall.gov web site address.
3) Call, Write, or Email ALL Credit Reporting Agencies such as: Equifax, Experian, Innovis, and Trans Union (these are the 4 biggest and most used) - Inquiries into your credit report are happening all the time. Usually without your permission or knowledge whatsoever. These inquiries can also impede legit credit requests from you when you wish to get a loan for a car, house, or any other type of large purchase. You can ACTUALLY be turned down for too many inquiries into your credit report within a given/set timeframe. Most of these inquiries are from financial institutions trying to see how well you may qualify for A BRAND NEW CREDIT CARD; A LARGE STOCK INVESTMENT; OR some other reason to send you junk mail advertisement. It's their way of seeing whether or not you would either be a good customer for them (like in the case of the brand new credit card), or it's a way to see if you can afford the items they wish to send you material/literature on. CALL THIS TOLL FREE NUMBER FOR AN EASY WAY TO REGISTER TO "OPT-OUT" OF ALL "PRE-APPROVED" CREDIT CARD SOLICITATION LISTS SIMULTANEOUSLY FOR ALL 4 AGENCIES: 1-888-567-8688. Also, click here for more information and phone numbers regarding your rights to "Opt-Out" of these inquiries from these 4 agencies: http://www.junkbusters.com/self.html#credit. When you accomplish this task (and you should because it's just too darn easy and TOTALLY effective), you will start to see your credit card companies send you notices or pamphlets regarding your "rights to privacy" and how to "Opt-Out" of their very own marketing programs. This is because they have made an attempt to check your credit report and/or rating and were blocked based on your request to deny those types of inquiries. It's sort of a way to start from the top and work your way down to the bottom dwelling sneaky credit card companies who put millions of Americans in debt each year. Also, it's a way to confirm that your efforts are working.
4) Your Credit Card Companies and Other Subscription Based Items - Most people we speak to are totally surprised that their very own credit card companies, bank/financial institutions, magazine subscriptions, cable and satellite companies, and other subscription-based services, sell your personal information DAILY. So, you may want to take some time and call ALL of them one day and let them know your wishes to "Opt-Out" of any marketing programs or third-party marketing initiatives. You'll be surprised at how many companies actually have a marketing program and take your request gladly to get you off of these lists. Remember, if your telephone number is on file with these places as well, they will sell that off too...not just your address. We personally make it a practice to make our cell phone numbers the main number for ALL of these types of companies (because remember, cell phones aren't listed YET, and may not be for a long while with the new "Number Portability" law that just went into effect allowing you to bring your cell phone number anywhere you wish in the nation). NOTE: This should also stop those annoying convenience checks from coming in as well. Convenience checks can wreak havoc on your credit card statement if someone finds one in your trash. Thus, if you call these companies and "Opt-Out" of their programs, you should stop receiving this type of mail (and if they don't stop, call them again).
5) "Driver Privacy Protection Act" Web Site (Florida): http://www.hsmv.state.fl.us/ddl/DPPAInfo.html - Taken directly from the Florida web site... "Under state law, your motor vehicle and driver license records are subject to public disclosure. DPPA allows you to keep your personal information private by limiting who has access to the information." That's right, each state sells your information regarding your driver's license to most paying companies willing to shell out the cash to get your personal information. If you've ever gotten a ticket recently, you'll notice your mailbox getting filled with attorney's and companies looking to help you get out of that ticket....this is a perfect example of your local/state governments selling your information publicly (and making a profit to boot). Although the web site link above is for the State of Florida only, you can simply look up on any web search engine the following words to find your state's driver's license area:"YourStatesName Driver's License" (most, if not all, are listed on the web now).
6) Make Your Home Phone Number UN-PUBLISHED/NON-PUBLISHED (and any other non-cellular personal phone lines) - Folks, this is a HUGE one and a minimal monthly cost at best. In addition to your credit card companies selling your information as stated previously in this email, your phone company will do the exact same thing. Not only will they sell your phone number, address, and other personal information to third party companies, but they'll also have EVERY division in their company call you trying to sell you stuff as well. For example: When a telemarketer opens for business, they can simply go to their telephone company that they are currently using for their very own phone lines and pay a fee to get ALL the numbers that are "published" in the phone book. Then, you will be consistently called by these companies until you actually call your phone company and "Opt-Out" of any and all marketing programs. Note: Even if you tell the telemarketer not to call, they may still call you over-and-over again due to the fact that their phone company keeps providing them with an updated list of phone numbers that are "published" for public use. So, this is a two stage process: a. Call your phone company and tell them you wish to "Opt-Out" of all marketing programs; and b. Inquire about how much it would be to get your phone number un-published, and if you think it's reasonable, get your number un-published. Please understand that the best way to establish a private/un-published number is to actually get a new phone number all together and have it un-published/not listed from the very beginning. But if you don't want to get a new phone number, having your existing number un-published will help. TO SEE HOW PUBLIC YOUR PHONE NUMBER IS, GO TO www.google.com and put in your home telephone number including area code (no dashes or spaces - just numbers). If your number comes up, it will basically prove how much the entire world has access to you.
7) The Easiest Thing You Can Do...Buy a "Cross-cut" or "Confetti-cut" Shredder - You should always get into the practice of shredding all of your important/discarded documents, most importantly, those which have sensitive data such as: account information, your social security #, phone numbers, email addresses, etc. Anything that may be considered by you to be private and for your own eyes. A pretty good shredder to choose from can be purchased for under $100. However, you MUST make sure it is a "cross-cut" or "confetti-cut" type of shredder. A good one can be purchased here at this link....click here > http://www.pcuniverse.com/product.asp?pid=238450
8) Get Rid of Your Spyware on Your Computer - Using the program called Ad-Aware that is endorsed on the TechPlusMore.com (see “Software Links”) web site is one of the best pieces of software you can have on your computer. This program will clean out all sorts of marketing information that got maliciously installed on your computer (even in it’s registry) while you were surfing the Internet totally unaware. There are some major “Direct” marketing firms out on the web that push small programs to your computer so that they can monitor your Internet surfing (where you go and what you buy) and spam you with e-mail advertisements. These little programs are called “Spyware” programs. They are designed to send marketing data from your computer on an ongoing basis such as: e-mail addresses, what type of Windows you’re using, connection speed, ISP you use, buying habits, how you surf the web, where you go on the web, etc. If enough of spyware gets on your computer, it can slow down your computer, slow down it's performance, and stifle your Internet connection quite a bit To get Ad-Aware, simply click here: http://download.com.com/3000-2144-10045910.html?part=69274&subj=dlpage&tag=button
9) Install and/or Update Your Virus Protection Software - As a rule of thumb, you should ALWAYS protect your computer against viruses using a reputable virus protection software package. With the recent onslaught of such viruses as "MyDoom" and "Netsky", we have all been inundated with these pesky little annoyances year-after-year. If you need suggestions for a good virus protection software, We personally endorse McAfee's Online Virus Protection program (as stated on the TechPlusMore.com web site - see “Software Links”). It can be found at: http://download.mcafee.com/us/
10) The Junkbusters Guide to Reducing Junk Web Site: http://www.junkbusters.com - This is a great web site for information on stopping all sorts of direct marketing material. It has a lot of what I'm incorporating in this email, however it also has template letters with exact company specific addresses where you can send your "stop" or "Opt-Out" letters too.
** Additional Tip for Those of You Who Own Web Sites: http://www.internetprivacyadvocate.org/Inst-WHOIS.htm - This web site will give you step-by-step instructions on how to make your domain name (i.e. your WWW web site address) private and secure. If you've registered your domain name with the premiere company Network Solutions, for $5 dollars per year you can hide/make private your "WHO-IS" information that is registered to your domain. There are many marketing companies who simply "data-mine" the "WHO-IS" information on the web hourly which usually contains all of your contact information including: Name, Address, Email Address, and Phone Numbers. Benefits to hiding this information are as follows (as taken directly from the Network Solutions web site):
"THE BENEFITS OF PRIVATE REGISTRATION
Deters spammers, telemarketers, identity thieves, harassers, stalkers and others who "mine" the public WHOIS database.
Protects Your Personal Information. The information you want to keep private is kept out of the public WHOIS database. You are assigned alternate contact information that is displayed in your WHOIS listing.
Protects Your Domain Name Registration. Gives you full control and standing as registrant over the domain names in your account, unlike proxy services."
For more information on how to protect and secure your domain name, click here: http://www.internetprivacyadvocate.org/
In closing, make sure you are extremely diligent in following these tasks to a "T". These companies do NOT want to lose the ability to market junk mail, spam, telemarketing calls, etc. to you and will try to make it as difficult as possible for you to simply turn it all off. However, be strong and succinct in making your point/wish to "Opt-Out" of their programs, and DON'T BE RUDE TO THE PERSON ON THE OTHER END OF THE PHONE. Remember, they can easily tell you they switched your marketing preferences to OFF, but still simply keep it toggled ON in their computer if you tick them off. Just remember this KEYWORD: "Opt-Out" of EVERYTHING!!!
Complete all the above tasks for each person in your household or business, and you should be more private than you ever have been in the past. Heck, it might even better your credit rating too.
Good luck to you all !!!
FOR A PRINTABLE COPY OF THESE TIPS IN MICROSOFT’S WORD OR ADOBE’S PDF FORMAT, CLICK ON THE APPROPRIATE ICON BELOW:
 
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