Protecting Your Identity
How can someone steal my identity?
What are the effects of identity theft?
How can I tell if I'm a victim of identity theft?
What is "pretexting" and what does it have
to do with identity theft?
How long can the effects of identity theft last?
Should I use a credit monitoring service?
How can someone steal my identity?
Despite your best efforts to manage the flow of your personal information
or to keep it to yourself, skilled identity thieves may use a variety of methods
to gain access to your data.
They get information from businesses or other institutions by:
•
stealing records or information while they're on the job
•
bribing an employee who has access to these records
•
hacking these records
•
conning information out of employees
• They may steal your mail, including bank and credit card statements,
credit card offers, new checks, and tax information.
• They may rummage through your trash, the trash of businesses, or public
trash dumps in a practice known as "dumpster diving."
• They may get your credit reports by abusing their employer's authorized
access to them, or by posing as a landlord, employer, or someone else who may
have a legal right to access your report.
• They may steal your credit or debit card numbers by capturing the
information in a data storage device in a practice known as "skimming." They
may swipe your card for an actual purchase, or attach the device to an ATM
machine where you may enter or swipe your card.
• They may steal your wallet or purse.
• They may complete a "change of address form" to divert your
mail to another location.
• They may steal personal information they find in your home.
• They may steal personal information from you through email or phone
by posing as legitimate companies and claiming that you have a problem with
your account. This practice is known as "phishing" online, or pretexting
by phone.
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What are the effects of identity theft?
Once identity thieves have your personal information, they use it in a variety
of ways.
• They may call your credit card issuer to change the billing address
on your credit card account. The imposter then runs up charges on your account.
Because your bills are being sent to a different address, it may be some time
before you realize there's a problem.
• They may open new credit card accounts in your name. When they use
the credit cards and don't pay the bills, the delinquent accounts are reported
on your credit report.
• They may establish phone or wireless service in your name.
• They may open a bank account in your name and write bad checks on
that account.
• They may counterfeit checks or credit or debit cards, or authorize
electronic transfers in your name, and drain your bank account.
• They may file for bankruptcy under your name to avoid paying debts
they've incurred under your name, or to avoid eviction.
• They may buy a car by taking out an auto loan in your name.
• They may get identification such as a driver's license issued with
their picture, in your name.
• They may get a job or file fraudulent tax returns in your name.
• They may give your name to the police during an arrest. If they don't
show up for their court date, a warrant for arrest is issued in your name.
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How can I tell if I'm a victim of identity theft?
If an identity thief is opening credit accounts in your name, these accounts
are likely to show up on your credit report. To find out, order a copy of your
credit reports. Once you get your reports, review them carefully. Look for
inquiries from companies you haven't contacted, accounts you didn't open, and
debts on your accounts that you can't explain. Check that information, like
your Social Security number, address(es), name or initials, and employers are
correct. If you find fraudulent or inaccurate information, get it removed.
See Correcting Fraudulent Information in Credit Reports to learn how. Continue
to check your credit reports periodically, especially for the first year after
you discover the identity theft, to make sure no new fraudulent activity has
occurred.
Stay alert for other signs of identity theft, like:
• failing to receive bills or other mail. Follow up with creditors if
your bills don't arrive on time. A missing bill could mean an identity thief
has taken over your account and changed your billing address to cover his tracks.
• receiving credit cards that you didn't apply for.
• being denied credit, or being offered less favorable credit terms,
like a high interest rate, for no apparent reason.
• getting calls or letters from debt collectors or businesses about
merchandise or services you didn't buy.
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What is "pretexting" and what does it have to do with identity theft?
Pretexting is the practice of getting your personal information under false
pretenses. Pretexters sell your information to people who may use it to get
credit in your name, steal your assets, or to investigate or sue you. Pretexting
is against the law.
Pretexters use a variety of tactics to get your personal information. For
example, a pretexter may call, claim he's from a survey firm, and ask you a
few questions. When the pretexter has the information he wants, he uses it
to call your financial institution. He pretends to be you or someone with authorized
access to your account. He might claim that he's forgotten his checkbook and
needs information about his account. In this way, the pretexter may be able
to obtain personal information about you such as your Social Security number,
bank and credit card account numbers, information in your credit report, and
the existence and size of your savings and investment portfolios.
Keep in mind that some information about you may be a matter of public record,
such as whether you own a home, pay your real estate taxes, or have ever filed
for bankruptcy. It is not pretexting for another person to collect this kind
of information.
By law, it's illegal for anyone to:
• use false, fictitious or fraudulent statements or documents to get
customer information from a financial institution or directly from a customer
of a financial institution.
• use forged, counterfeit, lost, or stolen documents to get customer
information from a financial institution or directly from a customer of a financial
institution.
• ask another person to get someone else's customer information using
false, fictitious or fraudulent statements or using false, fictitious or fraudulent
documents or forged, counterfeit, lost, or stolen documents.
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How long can the effects of identity theft last?
It's difficult to predict how long the effects of identity theft may linger.
That's because it depends on many factors including the type of theft, whether
the thief sold or passed your information on to other thieves, whether the
thief is caught, and problems related to correcting your credit report.
Victims of identity theft should monitor their credit reports and other financial
records for several months after they discover the crime. Victims should review
their credit reports once every three months in the first year of the theft,
and once a year thereafter. Stay alert for other signs of identity theft. See
How can I tell if I'm a victim of identity theft?
Don’t delay in correcting your records and contacting all companies
that opened fraudulent accounts. The longer the inaccurate information goes
uncorrected, the longer it will take to resolve the problem.
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Should I use a credit monitoring service?
There are a variety of commercial services that, for a fee, will monitor your
credit reports for activity and alert you to changes to your accounts. Prices
and services vary widely. Many of the services only monitor one of the three
major consumer reporting companies. If you’re considering signing up
for a service, make sure you understand what you're getting before you buy.
Also check out the company with your local Better Business Bureau, consumer
protection agency and state Attorney General to see if they have any complaints
on file.
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This information has been provided by The
Federal Trade Commission.
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