Reduce your risks this holiday season
To the editor,
As we move into the holiday season, I urge everyone to remember these simple things. Halloween is over. Now, we move into the Thanksgiving shopping spree. This is the time that strong arm robberies begin to pick up. Mothers and grandmothers shopping for their loved ones are at the greatest risk. Purses contain a lot of valuable information.
Please take a moment and consider these safety steps:
• Make a photocopy of your driver’s license, credit cards, and other valuable papers you carry. Leave the copies at home in a safe place. That way, if your purse is stolen, you have the information from those licenses, cards and papers available. It will expedite canceling the stolen ones and getting new ones reissued.
• Never ever carry your social security card in your purse or wallet. If your SSN is stolen with your driver’s license, you become a prime target for ID theft. Your SSN belongs in a safe at home.
• Don’t carry cash.
• Men, carry your wallet in your front pocket. Don’t flash money. Use plastic.
• Women, please do not carry a large purse. Strong armed robbers can snatch your purse from you without so much as a second thought. Carry your money in your pocket or in a small clutch.
• During Thanksgiving through Christmas, especially during these hard times, do not leave presents or valuables exposed in your car. Do not leave them visible in your home (like under the Christmas tree) while you are away.
• If it doesn’t feel right, don’t participate. Be wary of your surroundings. Be careful where you park, and never “flash” money.
• Lastly, if you feel you are being targeted for theft or robbery, please call 9-1-1. Report the description of the suspicious person, your location and your name. If the suspect is in a car, be sure to pass on the tag number. Stay where you are until an officer or deputy arrives on scene. Remember, your report may very well save the life or property of another.
Take care, and have a wonderful holiday season.
Lee Bushong
Lehigh Acres