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Identity
Theft Crime Prevention
Last updated
2/18/2008
Everyone
should safeguard all their account numbers so they won't be
a victim of identity theft. Identity theft happens when
someone pretends to be you by using your personal
information when applying for loans, credit cards, or
leases. In some cases, people may impersonate you when
receiving traffic violations or other legal contact. The
thief takes advantage of your good history or credit record,
leaving behind bad credit or misdeeds in your name. Losses
to consumer and institutions due to identity theft totaled
$845 million in 1997, according to the United States Secret
Service.
Keep your information to yourself!!!
How
the thief gets your personal information:
-
Stealing
your purse or wallet
-
Pilfering
information such as bank statements and pre-approved
credit card applications from your mailbox.(Destroy
or shred pre-approval credit information and credit
statements).
-
Posing
as your employer, loan officer or landlord to get
your credit reports.
-
Going
through trash for credit card carbons or loan
applications. Be consistent at home and when making
purchases at stores. (Make sure that stores destroy
your carbon copies of transactions).
How
to minimize the risk:
-
Guard
your SSN closely, giving it out only to official
authorities or businesses you trust. Some firms will
accept another identifier if you ask.
-
Be
careful how you dispose of documents. Ideally, shred
them in a cross-cut shredder.
-
Exercise
your right to stop your credit header being sold,
which will also stop pre-approved offers of credit.
Call the credit bureaus special toll-free line (888)
567-8688.
-
Don't
post personal information on the Internet for
example, on genealogical or your personnel profile
information sites. Avoid placing your information on
the Internet.
-
Check
your credit report at least once a year.
Should
you become a victim, see below for where to go for help.
Here are some other tips.
-
Obtain
a copy of the fraudulent contract or application.
This is the key document that proves the person who
signed it isn't you. Finding the company that issued
it and the right person to talk to isn't always
easy.
-
Try
to get past the gatekeepers to someone who is in
charge.
-
Contact
the credit bureaus that hold your credit report. Ask
them to log the theft and remove the bad accounts
from your report, giving as much proof as possible.
You may meet difficulties, but by law, the bureau
must correct any wrong information.
-
Have
a "fraud alert" put on your credit report.
This should alert credit grantors to check a new
application.
-
Keep
meticulous dated records of your attempts to clean
the record letters, phone calls, and what were said
and to whom it was said.
-
Never
agree to pay any portion of the debt just to get the
debt collectors off your back. The balance will stay
on your record.
Where
to go for help:
To
report identity theft and get help on how to restore your
credit: contact Federal Trade Commission, Consumer Response
Center, 600 Pennsylvania Ave. N.W., Washington, D.C. 20580,
or call, toll free, (877) 382-4357. www.consumer.gov/idtheft
for online information.
To
report ID theft, get your credit record (free for fraud
victims) and to have it corrected, contact all of these:
Trans
Union, Fraud Victim Assistance Department P.O. Box 6790
Fullerton, California 92384(800) 680-7289
Equifax
P.O. Box 740241Atlanta, GA 30374-0241(800) 525-6285
Experian
P.O. Box 1017Allen, Texas 75013(800) 301-7195
Report all ID
theft to the police department. The Ohio Attorney General's
Office has a new program to track these types of cases and
ID cards to protect victim's of this type of crime.
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