Issue link: https://www.epageflip.net/i/633045
DEARMARY:Abouta month ago, my wallet was stolen out of my hand- bag while in the su- permarket. I filed a po- lice report, but they ad- vised me it's not likely I will ever get it back — or the con- tents. I reported this to my bank and credit-card com- pany. Those accounts were closed and reopened with new account numbers. But I am sick with worry because my Social Secu- rity card was in the wal- let. I don't know what to do. What can I do? I so ap- preciate any guidance that will help give me some peace of mind. I've learned my lesson to never carry that with me. Just wish I'd been smarter sooner. — Marissa DEAR MARISSA: I am so sorry to hear about this. But worry is the wrong response because that is totally unproduc- tive. Worry doesn't fix anything. Before I give you the advice that will restore your peace of mind, I think it's impor- tant that all of us under- stand that our Social Se- curity numbers are much different than say a credit card or debit card. A Social Security num- ber is the single most im- portant piece of govern- ment-issued identification an American citizen can have. It is the most valu- able piece of identification that cybercriminals can get their hands on. A valid SSN can be sold to undoc- umented workers or to people trying to hide their true identities. A stolen SSN allows the thief or his or her custom- ers to do almost every- thing that you or I can do with our legitimate SSNs. By assuming a real per- son's name and SSN, a thief can steal property and money from that per- son. If a thief uses your name and SSN to do crim- inal acts, the police are go- ing to be looking for you, not that thief. You can close a credit- card account if it is com- promised and you did. That's good The prob- lem is you can't close your SSN. Even if you were to get that card back by some miracle, you must assume that your Social Security number has been stolen. And here comes my ad- vice: You have two choices for how to deal with this. You can take control of this situation in one of two ways: OPTION ONE: You can join a trust and reputa- ble identity-theft protec- tion service like Lifelock. My family, my staff and I are all members of Life- lock. I highly recommend this service because I get to see it in action, almost daily. Faithful readers may re- call from a past column that one of my staff mem- bers, Max, has been con- tending with identity theft since he was a teenager. His SSN was stolen, and over the past decade, hun- dreds of people have at- tempted to us his name and SSN to apply for jobs, file for tax refunds, sign up for health insurance, apply for passports and get credit. Max's problems have not ended, and they will not end anytime soon. But Max no longer worries about it. Lifelock moves into ac- tion the moment his SSN is ever used in any kind of application. In just the past week, Max has received three alerts from Lifelock, with information on three peo- ple trying to open credit card accounts using his SSN. Lifelock put a stop to them immediately be- fore those thugs could even complete the first step. And that's in just one week. OPTION TWO. You can take all the steps your- self that are necessary to manage your SSN. If you choose this option, there are several steps you'll need to take right away. Contact one of the three major credit-re- porting agencies Equi- fax (888-766-0008), Tran- sUnion (800-916-8800), or Experian (888-397- 3742) to place a fraud alert on your credit file. That agency will contact the other two. Renew the fraud alert every 90 days until you're satisfied the matter has been settled; it could take years. Contact the Social Secu- rity Administration only to get a replacement card. Tell each of the three agencies that your SSN has been stolen. They'll give you free copies of your current credit reports. Re- view those reports for un- familiar accounts and un- known inquiries from companies. Report the theft of the SSN to the IRS by calling 800-908-4490. That will prevent tax-fraud thieves from filing tax returns in your name and collecting your tax refund. File an identity-theft re- port with your local po- lice. The police report will be necessary to help clear your records and your name in the future. Keep track of, record, report and close all fraud- ulent accounts by contact- ing both the companies holding the accounts and the credit-reporting agen- cies. This will keep your credit as clean as possible going forward. If several years pass after the theft of your SSN, and the problems arising from the theft continue, you may want to apply for a new SSN. But before you do, there are several things to con- sider: It's not easy. In fact it is nearly impos- sible, that's how rare it is. Even by some mira- cle it does, your old SSN will never go away com- pletely. The Administration never invalidates an SSN once it's been used. I wish you well, Ma- rissa. Whichever way you choose to go with this, time is of the essence. You have no time to waste. Take care of this today, without fail. Wouldyouliketosend a tip to Mary? You can email her at mary@ everydaycheapskate. com, or write to Everyday Cheapskate, 12340 Seal Beach Blvd., Ste. B-416, Seal Beach, CA 90740. EVERYDAYCHEAPSKATE Two options when your Social Security number has been compromised Mary Hunt REDDING Bank of Com- merce Holdings, a $1 bil- lion asset bank holding company and parent com- pany of Redding Bank of Commerce, recently an- nounced that the bank received regulatory ap- proval from both the Fed- eral Deposit Insurance Corporation and the Cal- ifornia Department of Business Oversight to ac- quire five branches from Bank of America in north- ern California, including Corning. Terms of the purchase and assumption agree- ment provide for the bank to purchase certain assets of these branches, includ- ing some $258 million in deposits and $421,000 in loans. The other branches that will be acquired are in Colusa, Orland, Willows and Yreka. Both banks will be working closely together to ensure a smooth transi- tion for customers, as well as employees working at these locations being hired by Redding Bank of Com- merce. Conversion of the five branches will occur after close of business on Friday, March 11. The branches will reopen as Redding Bank of Commerce on Monday, March 14. ACQUISITION ReddingbanktotakeoverCorningBofA,otherbranches Sun Country Quilters re- cently presented Roy Ford with a special quilt in rec- ognition of his service with the U.S. Marine Corps dur- ing WWII. Ford, now 94, was a paratrooper and served on the ground during the invasion of the Japanese- held island of Iwo Jima in 1945, a primary objec- tive in American plans to bring the Pacific cam- paign to a successful con- clusion. Ford was seriously wounded and was awarded a Silver Star for gallantry in action against an enemy of the United States. Fourteen Quilt of Valor quilt tops were sewn dur- ing the four-day Tehama District Fair in Septem- ber by Sun Country Quil- ters and other commu- nity volunteers on sew- ing machines provided by the Viking Sewing Gallery, inside Joanne's Fabrics in Redding. Fab- ric, batting and backing for the quilts was do- nated by Stitch by Stitch of Red Bluff and Sun Country Quilters. Volunteers also pro- vided longarm quilt- ing. About half of the quilts have been com- pleted and all will be awarded. The mission of the Quilts of Valor Foun- dation is to cover ser- vice members and veter- ans touched by war with comforting and healing quilts. Each quilt is sewn with love and given to honor those who serve. SUN COUNTRY Quilt of Valor awarded to WWII veteran The following work- shops are being offered by the Northeast California Small Business Develop- ment Center at Butte Col- lege. All courses are at the center, 2480 Notre Dame Blvd., Chico, unless other- wise noted. Social Media 101: A Road Map to Getting Customers: 8:30-11:30 a.m. Thursday, Jan. 28. The cost is $40 per person pre-paid or $50 per person at the door. New Venture Entrepre- neurial Series — a series of workshops for start-up and new businesses: 8:30-10:30 a.m.Wednesdays,Feb.3-24. Thecostfortheseriesis$50 per person prepaid or $60 at the door. E-Loans & SBA Loans for Start-up and New Busi- nesses: 9-11 a.m. Thursday, Feb. 4 at Paradise Ridge Family Resource Center, 6249 Skyway, Paradise. Free. Must register to at- tend. Introduction to Search Engine Optimization: 9-11 a.m. Thursday, Feb. 18 at ButteCollegeGlennCounty Center, 604 E. Walker St., Orland. The cost is $30 per person pre-paid or $40 per person at the door. ServSafe Food Safety Training & Certification workshop: 9 a.m. to 5 p.m. Thursday, Feb. 25. The cost is $120 per person prepaid or $130 at the door includ- ing ServSafe textbook, or $80 prepaid and $90 at the door without book. Financial Management for Existing Businesses: 6-8 p.m. Thursdays, March 3-24. The cost for the series is$50perpersonprepaidor $60 at the door. Pre-registration is re- quired. Pre-registration and in- formation are available by calling 895-9017 or visiting www.bcsbdc.org. SMALL BUSINESS Center offers variety of courses The Affordable Care Act requires you, your spouse and your dependents to have qualifying health care coverage for each month of the year, qualify for a health coverage ex- emption, or make an In- dividual Shared Respon- sibility Payment when fil- ing your federal income tax return. If you had coverage for all of 2015, you will simply check a box on your tax re- turn to report that cover- age. However, if you don't have qualifying health care coverage and you meet certain criteria, you might be eligible for an ex- emption from coverage. Most exemptions are can be claimed when you file your tax return, but some must be claimed through the Marketplace. If you or any of your de- pendents are exempt from the requirement to have health coverage, you will complete IRS Form 8965, Health Coverage Exemp- tions and submit it with your tax return. If, how- ever, you are not required to file a tax return, you do not need to file a return solely to report your cov- erage or to claim an ex- emption. For any months you or anyone on your return do not have coverage or qualify for a coverage ex- emption, you must make a payment called the in- dividual shared respon- sibility payment. If you could have afforded cov- erage for yourself or any of your dependents, but chose not to get it and you do not qualify for an exemption, you must make a payment. You cal- culate the shared respon- sibility payment using a worksheet included in the instructions for Form 8965 and enter your pay- ment amount on your tax return. Whether you are simply checking the box on your tax return to indicate that you had coverage in 2015, claiming a health coverage exemption, or making an individual shared respon- sibility payment, you or your tax professional can prepare and file your tax return electronically. Using tax preparation software is the best and simplest way to file a com- plete and accurate tax re- turn as it guides individ- uals and tax preparers through the process and does all the math. Elec- tronic filing options in- clude IRS Free File for taxpayers who qual- ify, freevolunteer assis- tance, commercial soft- ware, and professional as- sistance. Determine if you are eli- gible for a coverage exemp- tion or responsible for the Individual Shared Respon- sibility Payment by using our Interactive Tax Assis- tant on IRS.gov. For more information about the Affordable Care Act and filing your 2015 in- come tax return, visit IRS. gov/aca. If you need health cov- erage, visit HealthCare. gov to learn about health insurance options that are available for you and your family. AFFORDABLE CARE ACT In di vi du al Sh ar ed Re sp on si bi li ty pr ov is io n an d yo ur t ax r et ur n SHASTA LAKE The Bu- reau of Reclamation will intermittently close Shasta Dam Road between 7 a.m. and 5 p.m. beginning Mon- day, Feb. 1, through Mon- day, Feb. 8, to remove wa- terproof "curtains" on the Shasta Temperature Con- trol Device. During those times when the road over Shasta Dam is closed, a security guard will re-route traffic to the service road at the bottom of the dam. An- other guard will be sta- tioned at the service road entrance to direct traffic across the road. The construction work will have no impact on the Shasta Dam tour pro- gram or other recreation at Shasta Reservoir. The curtains served to minimize leakage of warm surface water into the TCD shutter structure in order to help meet Sacramento River temperature targets during the late summer and early fall. The targets, which re- quired cooler water to be released from lower in Shasta Reservoir, are crit- ical for returning Chinook salmon, which are endan- gered. For information on Shasta Dam tours, visit http://www.usbr.gov/mp/ ncao/shasta/index.html. CONSTRUCTION Shasta Dam Road to close intermittently CONTRIBUTEDPHOTO Marine Corps League 2016Commandant Ray Valenzuela, Sun Country Quilters member Karen Skelton and her granddaughter, Alyssa Dausse, present a quilt to WWII veteran Roy Ford. 744 Main St., Red Bluff NEWARRIVALSFOR VALENTINE'S DAY ♥ ENGLISH TEA CUP SAUCER ♥ GOLD/SILVER CAKE STAND ♥ GLASS ART VASE/ TRINKET ♥ BEAUTIFUL LARGE PLATE ♥ JEWELRY/ CUFF-BRACELET ♥ LAYAWAYAVAILABLE COME&SHOPWITHUS Open7Daysaweek:4amto10pm (530) 727-6057 •DozenDonuts (mixed) $8.99 "Thebestdonutintown!" Baked Fresh Daily SeniorDiscount BreakfastCroissantSandwich Sausage, Ham or Bacon Includes sm. coffee, or any other drink $ 4.99 218 S. Main Street, Red Bluff 734MainStreet 530-690-2477 11am-9pm Mon.-Thur. 11am - 10pm Fri. & Sat. 11am-8pm Sun. 9 CRAFT BEERS ON TAP Pizza Restaurant WeDo Alignments, Brakes, Shocks, Struts, Oil Changes, Suspension, Trailer Repairs, Batteries & Wipers 1375MontgomeryRd. Red Bluff, CA 530 529-0797 LIFESTYLES » redbluffdailynews.com Thursday, January 28, 2016 MORE ATFACEBOOK.COM/RBDAILYNEWS AND TWITTER.COM/REDBLUFFNEWS A5