How can identity theft happen to me? According to the FTC, some of the most common identity theft occurrences involve: - Loans applied for within the past six months, such as mortgages, home equity lines of credit, or automobile loans.
- Visits to the hospital/emergency room.
- Changes in health insurance and/or changes in Medical Service Providers.
Professional white-collar criminals often seek employment with mortgage companies, auto dealers, temp agencies or doctors’ offices in janitorial-type positions to steal your personal information. What should I do if my identity is stolen? Take action immediately: - Learn which credit and bank accounts are affected and close them immediately.
- Open a fraud alert by contacting one of the credit bureaus.
- Contact police and file a formal report.
- Keep the FTC apprised of the fraud by filing a formal complaint.
If I am a victim, how long will it take to clear my name? Completely clearing your name can take some time. - Check your credit reports at least once a year to make sure that your fraud alert is still active.
- Be sure to tell your banks and card issuers not to make any changes on your accounts unless they receive a pass code or password (not your mother’s maiden name!) that you set up with them.
- Make sure you follow each one through until the account has been removed from your credit reporting agency’s report.
- Tell the Post Office not to change your address unless you come in personally with several ID’s (this is to prevent criminals from diverting your mail to another location).
- Changes in health insurance and/or changes in Medical Service Providers.
I contacted the Credit Bureaus four months ago and told them I was a victim of fraud, but a new fraudulent application was approved. What should I do? - You need to contact the credit bureaus and follow up in writing, requesting that a fraud alert be placed on your file.
- Also request that the alert stay on your credit file for seven years. In your letter, state “Contact me personally before approving any type of credit.”
Why am I being treated like a criminal? I do not know who stole my ID. The police do not seem to care about my problem. What should I do? - File a police report and send a copy to all credit reporting agencies.
- Be persistent.
- The police may tell you that they cannot accept your report. Stress that you may have to pay the charges if you cannot send a police report to the financial institutions.
- Tell the Post Office not to change your address unless you come in personally with several ID’s (this is to prevent criminals from diverting your mail to another location).
- An alternative is to file an incident report with the police, and send copies out to your financial institutions.
- If you are not successful with local police, try the state police or your local Postal Inspector. File a complaint with the FTC (Federal Trade Commission), and ask the police to check the FTC sentinel database for other complaints in your area.
- Keep a file with names, dates and times associated with the people and agencies you contacted.
- Keep a copy of everything (fraud affidavits that you complete, police reports, correspondence, etc.).
- Make sure you send a dispute letter to every card issuer.
How much does a credit report cost? The Fair Credit Reporting Act (FCRA) requires each of the major credit reporting agencies - Equifax, Experian and TransUnion - upon request, provide you with a free copy of your credit report once every 12 months. Please visit The Federal Trade Commission website below for additional details on how to obtain a free copy of your credit report, or go to www.annualcreditreport.com. http://www.ftc.gov/bcp/conline/pubs/credit/freereports.htm How do I avoid being scammed by email solicitations (“Phishing”) and/or fraudulent (“Spoofed”) websites - Do not give information — such as user names, passwords, credit card numbers, social security or bank account numbers, etc. — in an email.
- Be suspicious of an email with urgent requests for personal financial information because your account is being closed, or being verified, etc…
- Before typing in any financial information, ensure that you did not get to the website using a link from an email or a spoofed website. Get into the habit of typing in the website address of your financial institution in the address bar.
- Look for the “s” after http (e.g. https://www.website.com) in the address bar on top to check that the website is secure.
- Depending on the browser you use, look for the padlock or the key at the bottom of the browser.
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Budgeting & Money
