• WHAT: Instant notifiction of suspicious activity on your credit card via text message
• WHY: In today's world of rampant identity theft, do you really need to ask why?
• COST: Free

If you've ever had that feeling that someone was looking over your shoulder while you typed something on your laptop, or was getting just a tad too close to you on the bus or subway, then you've probably already thought about identity theft.  And if you've ever actually had your identity stolen (I have) you'll be conscious to the point of paranoia about keeping your information private. Sure, there are some times when it just can't be avoided, but you can easily take some extra care - and now your trusty cell phone can become the first line of defense against villains, thieves and scoundrels scamming to use your credit cards to treat themselves like Bill Gates or Her Majesty The Queen. 

Like most people I carry a few different cards, but at this point I carry far fewer than most people. There's just no need any more to carry department store cards, gas company cards or other specialized cards when a single Visa, MasterCard, American Express (Amex to its users) or Discover card can be used in virtually every retail or online establishment.  In fact, I carry just three cards - one Amex for business, one Visa for business (for the rare places that don't take Amex) and one Visa for personal expenses.  That immediately reduces the potential for abuse because it's just easier to keep your eye on fewer cards, statements, etc.  

All the same, though, you can't proactively check every statement every day, so how do you protect yourself from someone unauthorized using your cards?  Simple - set up an alert with your credit card companies (they almost all do this) to send a message to your cell phone when there is suspicious or unusual activity.  You can do this on most of the cards' web sites, but, if not, I strongly recommend contacting the provider by using the number (printed in every-so-tiny-type) on the back of your card.  Many cards - such as my Amex, for example - allow you to set up an alert online that will send you a text message if there are any unusual charges, charges from unusual places, strange charging patterns (lunch in Paris and purchasing clothing an hour later in L..A.) or even when you are close to your credit limit. 

Plus, even though I have my cards set up with automated payments from my bank account (avoiding yet another possible route for identity thieves to abscond with information) I also like getting an alert when a payment is due.  I like to get those via email instead of text message because they don't have the same level of urgency.  But I get notified via text message ASAP when there's something fishy going on with one of my cards. 

I suggest you contact your credit card company immediately to set this up - it's free (minus the cost of the text message, of course) easy to establish and good common sense.  Believe me when I tell you that having your credit cards or identity stolen is not only dangerous to your financial health, but a huge hassle as well... getting them all cancelled, reissued, noting all the new numbers in your records (you DO note the numbers somewhere separately, don't you??) can be very time consuming and incredibly aggravating.