Identity theft occurs when someone uses your personal
information without your permission to commit fraud or other crimes
and although identity theft is dramatically on the rise. Keep in
mind that Identity Theft is not new and the chances of it happening
to you if you’re not careful are higher than you might think.
A Federal Trade Commission study found that last
year alone, over 9.9 million Americans discovered they were victims
of identity theft at a cost of approximately $50 billion.
Ways to minimizing your risk of identity
theft
Even though one may not be able to completely
control whether you will become a victim of identity theft, be
assured that there are things you can do to try to protect yourself
and minimize the chance of Identity Theft.
In most circumstances, you can request a free
copy of your credit report. The Fair Credit Reporting Act requires
each of the major nationwide consumer reporting companies to provide
you with a free copy of your credit reports once every 12 months.
Check your credit report at least once a year and correct any errors.
When you do request a copy of your credit report,
ask to have only the last four digits of your Social Security number
appear on your credit reports.
Avoid using easily available information like
your mother's maiden name, your birth date, or the last four digits
of your Social Security number in dealing with credit card, phone,
or bank account information. Apply the same caution when opening
new accounts. Instead of using your mother’s maiden name,
ask to use a password instead.
Make sure that you always secure your personal
information, bill statements, bank records and account access passwords
in a safe place in your home/
Do not give out personal information on the phone,
through the mail, on the Internet or via Email unless you are sure
you know who you're dealing with and that they are not fraudulent.
Identity thieves are becoming very clever and savvy in the way
they are able to gain access to your information with out you even
knowing. The often pose as bank representatives, government agencies,
phone companies and Internet Service Providers.
When possible, put outgoing mail in post office
collection boxes or at your local post office, rather than in an
unsecured mailbox and remove mail from your mailbox promptly. If
you're going on vacation or will be away from your home any significant
length of time, notify the Postal Service and they will hold your
mail until you can pick it up or are home to receive it.
When throwing away trash, shred all personal information
first. Make sure you shred all your receipts, credit applications,
insurance statements, bank records or anything else that contains
your personal information on it.
In case your wallet or purse gets misplaced, lost
or stolen don’t carry your Social Security Number card in
it, rather, leave it in a secure place and only give it out if
it’s necessary.
The next time you order checks, pick them up from
the bank instead of having them mailed to you.
Identity theft on the internet
Storing sensitive information like financial records,
tax returns, birth dates, and bank account numbers on your computer
may increase the chances of your identity being stolen.
You can however protect yourself by following
the below measures when storing personal information on your computer.
Update your virus protection software and operating
system patches on a regular basis. In most cases your virus protection
software and operating system can be set to check for updates and
patches automatically.
Don’t open emails sent to you by someone
you don’t know, don’t click on hyperlinks and download
programs or zip files from people you don't know.
Use a firewall, 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.
Now days, Internet Pop Up’s are inevitable.
Don’t be fooled into clicking on them. Clicking on a Free
iPod banner or Free Applebee’s Coupon, may potentially infect
your computer with spyware.
Password protect your computer or laptop, if either
is stolen, it's harder for a thief to access your personal information.
What to do if you think your identity has been stolen
If someone is using your identity or think that
some one is using your identity to commit fraudulent acts, report
it immediately to the police and credit agencies.
1. Place a fraud alert on your credit report.
A fraud alert will tell creditors to contact you before opening
any new accounts or making any changes to your existing accounts.
Contact the fraud departments of any one of the following:
Equifax: 1-800-525-6285; www.equifax.com
Experian: 1-888-EXPERIAN; www.experian.com
TransUnion: 1-800-680-7289; www.transunion.com
2. Promptly close the accounts that you know or
believe have been tampered with or opened fraudulently.
3. File a report with the police or with the police
in the community where the identity theft took place and obtain
a copy of the report to submit to your creditors and others that
may require proof.
4. File your complaint with the FTC (Federal Trade
Commission) which maintains a database of identity theft cases
used by law enforcement agencies for investigations.
