Identity Theft : It's Not If - It's When

By Stephen Bucaro

No matter how careful you are with your personal information, you can still become a victim of identity theft. The reason is that the hundreds of businesses and institutions that store your personal information are not inclined to be so careful. Many of these organizations don't bother to shred disgarded documents containing personal information. Scammers are continuously "dumpster diving" to retrieve carelessly discarded personal information and credit card numbers.

Think about the number of organizations that have your personal information: banks, financial institutions, credit card companies, investment companies, retailers, telephone companies, cable companies, retailers, medical practices, universities, and government agencies. Their computers get hacked, backup tapes get lost or stolen, or employees sell your information where they can get anywhere between $10 to $60 per record. Even the Department of Justice has lost personal information when a laptop was stolen.

According to the Federal Trade Commission, more than 9 million people were victims of identity theft last year. People who are too busy to check bank account statements and their credit reports are at higher risk. Identity theft could be happening to you right now, and you wouldn’t know it until the damage was done.

Under the Fair and Accurate Credit Transactions Act, once each year you can receive a free credit report from each of the credit agencies (Equifax, Experian, and TransUnion). A good strategy would be to request a report from a different agency every four months. You can make requests to each of the credit reporting agencies at www.annualcreditreport.com.

In order to receive a report from one of the agencies, you will be required to answer a credit related question that only you would know, like "what's the name of your mortage lender" or "how much is your mortage payment".

If there is anything on your credit report that is unfamiliar to you, such as a bank or credit card account that you didn't open, immediately alert the financial institution providing the account in question. Immediately close all accounts that have been opened fraudulently.

Contact the fraud department of the credit report agency and request that they place a fraud alert on your file. The credit agency will notify the other credit report agencies to place fraud alerts on your files there. Notify all organizations where you have financial accounts that your personal information has been stolen and that you need to change all your account numbers and passwords.

Report the identity theft to the Federal Trade Commission by submitting the online form at Identity Theft Report Form. Also file a report at your your local police department, although there usually isn't much they can do about it because identity theft is an across-the-border crime, you may need proof of the crime at a later date.

No matter how careful you are with your personal information, you can still become a victim of identity theft. The best way to limit the damage from identity theft is to review your credit report information frequently. Early detection and quick action are your best defense.

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