Did you know you should always shred your personal papers before you throw them away, and that putting up the red flag on your mailbox is like posting a sign that says, "Please steal this mail!"?

Those are among the tips members of the Three Village Retired Teachers Association (Retiree Council 23, Smithtown) heard recently during a presentation from the Suffolk County Police Department's Identity Theft Unit.

One suggestion that caught everyone's attention: There is a way to put a stop to all those unsolicited credit card applications in your mailbox.

Write to the TransUnion Fraud Victim Assistance Department at PO Box 6790, Fullerton, CA 92834, and request a "security freeze" on such solicitations.

The freeze is free; there is a $5 fee to restore it if you remove it.

(Source: From the Top, the newsletter of Retiree Council 23, December 2008 issue; original item submitted by Betty Baran.)

FDR's fear

Retiree Council 21 members from Long Island delved into security of a different kind during their recent tour of the Franklin D. Roosevelt Presidential Library and Museum in Hyde Park.

Included in the trivia these history buffs learned: FDR's fear of fire became so great after polio forced him to use a wheelchair that he had special fire walls installed in his home at Hyde Park.

FDR never needed the added protection of those fire walls, but they may have saved the mansion a few years ago when a fire started on the third floor.

(Source: Spotlight 21, the newsletter of Retiree Council 21, November/December 2008.)

— Compiled by Darryl McGrath