According to www.money.cnn.com, another American becomes a victim of identity fraud every two seconds. Additionally, http://www.statisticbrain.com/identity-theft-fraud-statistics/ states that the total financial loss attributed to identity theft in 2014 was more than $26.3 billion.
Usa.gov/identity-theft offers the following steps for protecting yourself:
- Secure social security number. Don’t carry social security card in wallet or write number on checks. Only give out when absolutely necessary.
- Before sharing personal information, ask why it is needed and how it will be protected.
- Destroy the labels on prescription bottles before disposing of them.
- Don’t share health plan information with anyone who offers free health services or products.
- When ordering new checks, don’t have them mailed to your home, unless mailbox is secured with a lock.
- Never respond to unsolicited requests for personal information such as name, birthdate, social security number or bank account number by phone, mail or online.
- Shield keypad when typing passwords on computers and at ATMs.
- Collect mail promptly and put mail on hold when away from home.
- Consider opting out of prescreened offers of credit and insurance. You can opt out for five years or permanently. To opt out, call 1-888-567-8688 or visit optoutprescreen.com. The three nationwide credit reporting companies operate the phone number and website.
- Pay attention to billing cycles. If bills or financial statements are late, contact sender.
- Review receipts. Ask for carbon copies and incorrect charge slips as well. Promptly compare receipts with account statements.
- Shred receipts, credit offers, account statements and expired cards to prevent “dumpster divers” from getting personal information.
- Store personal information in a safe place at home and at work.
- Before you dispose of a mobile device, check owner’s manual, the service provider’s website, or the device manufacturer’s website for information on deleting information permanently, and how to save or transfer information to a new device. Remove the memory or subscriber identity module (SIM) card from mobile device. Remove phone book, lists of calls made and received, voicemails, messages sent and received, organizer folders, web search history and photos.
- Before you dispose of a computer, get rid of all personal information it stores. Use a wipe utility program to overwrite the entire hard drive.
- Install firewalls and virus-detection software on computer.
- Create complex passwords that identity thieves cannot guess easily. Change passwords if a company that you do business with has a breach of their databases.
- Don’t overshare on social networking sites – If you post too much information, an identity thief can find information about your life, use it to answer ‘challenge’ questions on your accounts and get access to money and personal information. Consider limiting access to networking page to a small group of people. Never post full name, Social Security number, address, phone number or account numbers in publicly accessible sites.
- Lock up laptop. Keep financial information on your laptop only when necessary. Don’t use an automatic login feature that saves user name and password, and always log off when finished. That way, if your laptop is stolen, it will be harder for a thief to get at personal information.
- Don’t open files, click on links or download programs sent by strangers. Opening a file from someone you don’t know could expose your system to a computer virus or spyware that captures passwords or other information.
- Before sending personal information over laptop or smartphone on a public wireless network in a coffee shop, library, airport, hotel or other public place, see if your information will be protected. If you use an encrypted website, it protects only the information you send to and from that site. If you use a secure wireless network, all information you send on that network is protected.
- Order credit report once a year and review to be certain that it doesn’t include accounts that you have not opened. Check more frequently if you suspect someone has gained access to account information.
Report identity theft
If you are a victim, report it immediately. The Federal Trade Commission and local police departments are critical in filing the complaint. Once you file the ID theft with the FTC, you will have an ID theft affidavit. Print and take this when filing the crime with local police and get a police report.
These two documents are your identity theft report and will be important while resolving problems with creditors, banks and other companies where fraudulent accounts were set up. You may also report specific types of identity theft to other agencies.
Long-term care identity theft – Report a claim to long-term care ombudsman if the theft was a result of a stay in a nursing home or long-term care facility.
Medical identity theft – Contact health insurance company’s fraud department or Medicare’s fraud office.
Tax identity theft – Report this type to the Internal Revenue Service and your state’s Department of Taxation or Revenue.
In addition to federal government agencies, also report the theft to other organizations including:
Credit reporting agencies – Contact the three major agencies to place fraud alerts or freezes on your accounts so that no one can apply for credit with your personal information. Also get copies of credit reports to be sure that no one has already tried to open unauthorized credit accounts.
Financial institutions – Contact fraud department at the bank, credit card issuers and other places where you have accounts. You may need the ID theft reports from the police and Federal Trade Commission to report the fraud.
Also report the fraud to companies where the identity thief created accounts, opened credit accounts or even applied for jobs in order to clear your name.
State Consumer Protection Offices or Attorney General – Your state may offer resources to help contact creditors, dispute errors and other helpful resources.
The Federal Trade Commission offers a publication, Taking Charge – What to do if Your Identity is Stolen (PDF, Download Adobe Reader) that shares tips, checklists and sample letters.