Warning! Warning!

Those of us who are old enough to have watched the television series "Lost In Space" will recall the robot who would issue a warning when danger was sensed. I heard on the local news that Hurricane Katrina evacuees who are temprarily housed in our area can receive free birth certifcates. This sent up my red warning flag.

While I am all in favor of Hurrcane Katrina evacuees receiving all the help we can give, I am concerned about opportuinities created by the loosening of the usual requirements for unscrupulous characters. Identity theft comes to mind.

While volunteering at the local Red Cross Service Center, I did hear about a local individual who came into the center and signed in three different times in an effort to receive services and aid to which he was not entitled. He was not an evacuee. The staff were on to him which is good, but I do feel the opportunity for increased fraud is present.

Be encouraged to check your credit card statements for errors. Notify the complany of errors immediately. Also, get the three copies of your credit report that you now are legally entitled to recieve for free during time span of a year (one copy from each of the three credit reporting companies). Space your requests every 4 months to allow periodic monitoring for identity theft and fraud.

Follow this link to read an article about how now is a good time to break the chains of debt. Some tips are given: http://www.sanluisobispo.com/mld/sanluisobispo/business/12678097.htm