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In an episode of _Seinfeld_, Jerry’s neurotic friend George Costanza has so much stuff jam-packed into his wallet that it’s ridiculed as a “filing cabinet.” Walking down the street,
Costanza the pack rat tries to stuff one more thing inside, and the billfold explodes, scattering its contents to the wind. Jon Clay, vice president of threat intelligence for Trend Micro,
a global cybersecurity firm, mentions the episode when talking about what consumers should not carry in their wallets lest they lose valuable information. The lessons of the old sitcom
remain timely in an era in which identity theft is epidemic: The Federal Trade Commission (FTC) received more than one million reports of identity theft last year. Within that category,
the top type was credit card, with more than 416,000 reports. (The number is probably far higher; fraud is notoriously underreported.) Thieves could take more than the cash in your
wallet; they could profit from your stolen information, Clay says. A man in suburban Chicago left his wallet at a grocery store’s self-checkout. Even though the victim canceled his bank
cards, the thief took his driver’s license and used it to withdraw $15,000 from his bank account. “We all think we are being careful, but it takes one second for a criminal to steal our
wallet or purse,” says Amy Nofziger, director of victim support for the AARP Fraud Watch Network. HOW TO KEEP YOUR WALLET SAFE Your wallet can be leaner — and to cybercriminals,
meaner. Many of the informational items we once carried can be accessed on our smartphones, including digital wallets that contain digital versions of your credit cards, prepaid cards and
debit cards. Apple, Samsung and Google offer mobile payment services. For your analog wallet, take these steps: 1. CLEAN AND SORT. Take everything out of your wallet and sort it all, with
an eye to paring it way back. Remove old receipts, shopping lists, business cards, single-store credit cards that rarely get used, coffee shop punch cards that you’ll likely never fill up,
and so on. If it’s not something you’ll need often or in an emergency, keep it at home. 2. STORE SOME ITEMS. Create a safe and secure storage system at home for the occasional wallet items
you’ve removed. You can put extra cash there, too. Grab cards or items when needed, and when done with your errand, return the cards to their secure spot. 3. MAKE COPIES. Consumer
advocates advise making photocopies (or taking smartphone photos) of the front and back of all your cards, so you know whom to contact if they go missing. Video: What to Do if Your
Wallet Is Lost or Stolen THINGS YOU SHOULDN’T KEEP IN YOUR WALLET Here are 15 things you should remove from your wallet and store in a safe place, depending on how often you need to
access them: 1. SOCIAL SECURITY CARD. You do not need it for daily use, and criminals could use it to open lines of credit in your name or sell it to another criminal.
