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TechnoratiHOW CAN YOU TELL IF YOU’RE A VICTIM OF IDENTITY THEFT?
If an identity thief is opening new credit accounts in your name, these accounts are likely to show up on your credit report. You can find out by ordering a copy of your credit report from the three nationwide consumer reporting companies. If you have lost any personal information – or if it has been stolen – you may want to check all your reports more frequently for the first year.
Monitor the balances of your financial accounts. Look for unexplained charges or withdrawals. Other indications of identity theft can be:
• Failing to receive bills or other mail. This could mean an identity thief has submitted a change of address.
• Receiving credit cards for which you did not apply.
• Denial of credit for no apparent reason.
• Receiving calls from debt collectors or companies about merchandise or services you didn’t buy.
MANAGING YOUR PERSONAL INFORMATION
How can a responsible consumer minimize the risk of identity theft, as well as the potential for damage? When a situation involves your personal information, exercise caution and prudence.
DO IT NOW
• Place passwords on your credit card, bank, and phone accounts. Avoid using easily available information like your mother’s maiden name, your birth date, the last four digits of your SSN or your phone number, or a series of consecutive numbers. When you open new accounts, you may find that many businesses still have a line on their applications for your mother’s maiden name. Ask to use a password instead.
• Secure personal information in your home, especially if you have roommates, employ outside help, or are having work done in your home.
• Ask about information security procedures in your workplace or at businesses, doctors’ offices, or other institutions that collect your personally identifying information. Find out who has access to your personal information and verify that it is handled securely. Ask about the disposal procedures for those records, as well. Find out if information will be shared with anyone else. If so, ask how your information can be kept confidential.
EVERYDAY DILIGENCE
• Don’t give out personal information on the phone, through the mail, or on the Internet unless you’ve initiated the contact or are sure you know whom you’re dealing with. Identity thieves are clever, and have posed as representatives of banks, Internet service providers (ISPs), and even government agencies to get people to reveal their SSN, mother’s maiden name, account numbers, and other identifying information. Before you share any personal information, confirm that you’re dealing with a legitimate organization. Check an organization’s website by typing its URL in the address line, rather than cutting and pasting it in. Many companies post scam alerts on their sites when their name has been used improperly. Or call customer service using the number listed on your account statement or in the telephone book.
• Treat your mail and trash carefully. Deposit your 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 a vacation hold. The Postal Service will hold your mail at your local post office until you can pick it up or are home to receive it.
• To thwart a 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 credit or charge cards that you’re discarding, and credit offers you get in the mail. To opt out of receiving offers of credit in the mail that are based on your credit report, call: 1-888-5-OPTOUT (1-888-567-8688). The nationwide consumer reporting companies use the same toll-free number to let you opt out of receiving credit offers based on their lists. Note: You will be asked to provide your SSN, which the consumer reporting companies need to match you with your file.
• Don’t carry your SSN card in your wallet; store it in a secure place.
• Give your SSN only when absolutely necessary, and ask to use other types of identifiers. If your state uses your SSN as your driver’s license number, ask to substitute another number. Do the same if your health insurance company uses your SSN as your policy number.
• Carry only the identification information and the credit and debit cards that you’ll actually need when you go out. If your wallet is stolen – or if you lose it – report it immediately to the card issuers and the local police.
• Be cautious when responding to promotions. Identity thieves may create phony promotional offers to get you to give them your personal information.
• Keep your purse or wallet in a safe place at work; do the same with copies of administrative forms that have your sensitive personal information.
• When ordering new checks, pick them up from the bank instead of having them mailed to your home. Continue »
