What is Identity Theft?
Tips for Avoiding Identity Theft.
Help for Victims.
How do I prove that I’m an identity theft victim?
What is Identity Theft?
• Identity theft occurs when an imposter takes your personal data;
– Your name
– Your social security number
– Your driver’s license number
– Your address, and/or
– Your birth date
• And uses it for his/her own financial gain.
Tips for Avoiding Identity Theft
Credit Report
Order a copy of your credit report from each of the three major credit bureaus. A new law that took effect December 1, 2004, entitles you to one free credit report per year. Your credit report contains information on where you work and live, the credit accounts that have been opened in your name, how you pay your bills and whether you've been sued, arrested or filed for bankruptcy. Make sure it's accurate and includes only those activities you've authorized.
Passwords
Place your passwords on your credit card, bank, and phone accounts. Avoid using easily available information like your mother's maiden name, your birth date, any part of your Social Security number or phone number, or any series of consecutive numbers. When opening new accounts, you may find that many businesses still have a line on their applications for your mother's maiden name. Use a password instead.
Personal Information
Secure your personal information in your home, especially if you have roommates, employ outside help, or are having service work done in your home.
Information Security Procedures
Ask about information security procedures in your workplace. Find out who has access to your personal information and verify that records are kept in a secure location. Ask about the disposal procedures for those records as well.
Maintaining Vigilance
Order a copy of your credit report from each of the three major credit bureaus once a year. By checking your report on a regular basis you can catch mistakes and fraud before they wreak havoc on personal finances.
Don't give out personal information on the phone, through the mail or over the Internet unless you've initiated the contact or are sure you know who you're dealing with.
Guard your mail and trash from theft. Deposit outgoing mail in post office collection boxes or at your local post office, rather than in an unsecured mailbox. Promptly remove mail from your mailbox. If you're planning to be away from home and can't pick up your mail, call the U.S. Postal Service at 1-800-275-8777 to request vacation hold. The Postal Service will hold your mail at your local post office until you pick it up or are home to receive it.
To thwart an identity thief who may pick through your trash or recycling bins to capture your personal information, tear or shred your charge receipts, copies of credit applications, insurance forms, physician statements, checks and bank statements, expired charge cards that you're discarding, and credit offers you get in the mail.
Before revealing any personal identifying information (for example, on an application), find out how it will be used and secured, and whether it will be shared with others. Ask if you have a choice about the use of your information. Can you choose to have it kept confidential?
Don't carry your Social Security card. Leave it in a secure place.
Give your Social Security number only when absolutely necessary. Ask to use other types of identifiers when possible. If your state uses your Social Security number as your driver's license number, ask to substitute another number.
Carry only the identification information and the number of credit and debit cards that you'll actually need.
Pay attention to your billing cycles. Follow up with creditors if your bills don't arrive on time. A missing credit card bill could mean an identity thief has taken over your account and changed your billing address to cover his tracks.
Be wary of promotional scams. Identity thieves may use phony offers to get you to give them your personal information.
Keep your purse or wallet in a safe place at work.
The Doors and Windows Are Locked, But…
You may be careful about locking your doors and windows and keeping your personal papers in a secure place. But, depending on how you use your personal computer, an identity thief may not need to set foot in your house to steal your personal information. Social Security numbers, financial records, tax returns, birth dates, and bank account numbers may be stored in your computer - a goldmine to an identity thief. The following tips can help you keep your computer and your personal information safe.
Update your virus protection software regularly, or when a new virus alert is announced. Computer viruses can have a variety of damaging effects, including introducing program code that causes your computer to send out files or other stored information. Be on the alert for security repairs and patches that you can download from your operating system's website.
Do not download files sent to you by strangers or click on hyperlinks from people you don't know. Opening a file could expose your system to a computer virus or a program that could hijack your modem.
Use a firewall program, especially if you use a high-speed Internet connection like cable, DSL or T-1, which leaves your computer connected to the Internet 24 hours a day. The firewall program will allow you to stop uninvited guests from accessing your computer. Without it, hackers can take over your computer and access your personal information stored on it or use it to commit other crimes.
Use a secure browser - software that encrypts or scrambles information you send over the Internet - to guard the security of your online transactions. Be sure your browser has the most up-to-date encryption capabilities by using the latest version available from the manufacturer.
Try not to store financial information on your laptop unless absolutely necessary. If you do, use a strong password - a combination of letters (upper and lower cases), numbers and symbols. Don't use an automatic log-in feature which saves your name and password so you don't have to enter them each time you log-in or enter a site. And always log off when you're finished. That way, if your laptop gets stolen, it's harder for the thief to access your personal information.
Before you dispose of a computer, delete personal information. Deleting files using keyboard or mouse commands may not be enough because the files may stay on the computer's hard drive, where they may be easily retrieved. Use a "wipe" utility program to overwrite the entire hard drive. It makes the files unrecoverable.
Look at website privacy policies. They answer questions about maintaining accuracy, access, security, and control of personal information collected by the site, as well as how information will be used, and whether it will be provided to third parties. If you don't see a privacy policy, consider surfing elsewhere.
Help for Victims
- Contact the fraud departments of the 3 major credit bureaus:
Equifax - www.equifax.com
To order your report, call: 800-685-1111 or write:
P.O. Box 740241, Atlanta, GA 30374-0241
For Fraud Alerts, call: 800-525-6285 and write:
P.O. Box 740241, Atlanta, GA 30374-0241
Hearing impaired call 1-800-255-0056 and ask the operator to call the Auto Disclosure Line at 1-800-685-1111 to request a copy of your report.
Experian - www.experian.com
To order your report, call: 888-EXPERIAN (397-3742) or write:
P.O. Box 2002, Allen TX 75013
For Fraud Alerts call: 888-EXPERIAN (397-3742) and write:
P.O. Box 9530, Allen TX 75013
TDD: 1-800-972-0322
Trans Union - www.transunion.com
To order your report, call: 800-888-4213 or write:
P.O. Box 1000, Chester, PA 19022
For Fraud Alerts call: 800-680-7289 and write:
Fraud Victim Assistance Division, P.O. Box 6790, Fullerton, CA 92634
TDD: 1-877-553-7803
- Notify your financial institution
- Inform your credit issuers
- File a police report with your local law enforcement
For additional information and advice you can call the Federal Trade Commission (FTC) Identity Theft Hotline toll-free at 1-877-IDTHEFT (438-4338) or visit their ID Theft Website at www.consumer.gov/idtheft.
How do I prove that I'm an identity theft victim?
Creditor documentation can help you prove that you are a victim. For example, you may be able to show that the signature on an application is not yours. By law (the Fair Credit Reporting Act section 609(e), creditors must give you a copy of the application or other business transaction records relating to your identity theft free of charge.
Creditors must provide these records within 30 days of receipt of your request. You also may give permission to any law enforcement agency to get these records.
In order to obtain these records, you must mail your request to the address chosen by the creditor. Contact the creditor's fraud department by telephone to find out if the creditor has chosen a specific address. The creditor is entitled to ask you for:
(1) proof of your identity which may be a government issued ID card, the same type of information the identity thief used to open or access the account, or the type of information the creditor is currently requesting from applicants or customers
and
(2) a police report and a completed affidavit which may be either the Identity Theft Affidavit or the creditor's own affidavit.
A business does not have to provide the records in all cases. For instance, a business will not provide the records if it reviews your proof of identity and still does not have a high degree of confidence that it knows your true identity, or if you have not told the truth in making your request. A business also does not have to provide the records if it is prohibited from doing so under other provisions of state or federal law. Please note that the Gramm-Leach-Bliley Act (Subtitle A of title V of Public Law 106-102) does not prohibit the release of records to a victim of identity theft.
Once you have resolved your identity theft dispute with the creditor, ask for a letter from the creditor stating that they have closed the disputed accounts and have discharged you of the fraudulent debts. This letter is your best proof if errors relating to this account reappear on your credit report or you mistakenly are contacted again about the fraudulent debt.
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