How can someone steal my identity?
Despite your best efforts to manage the flow of your personal information or to
keep it to yourself, skilled identity thieves may use a variety of methods to gain
access to your data.
They get information from businesses or other institutions by:
- stealing records or information while they're on the job
- bribing an employee who has access to these records
- hacking these records
- conning information out of employees
- They may steal your mail, including bank and credit card statements, credit card
offers, new checks, and tax information.
- They may rummage through your trash, the trash of businesses, or public trash dumps
in a practice known as "dumpster diving."
- They may get your credit reports by abusing their employer's authorized access to
them, or by posing as a landlord, employer, or someone else who may have a legal
right to access your report.
- They may steal your credit or debit card numbers by capturing the information in
a data storage device in a practice known as "skimming." They may swipe your card
for an actual purchase, or attach the device to an ATM machine where you may enter
or swipe your card.
- They may steal your wallet or purse.
- They may complete a "change of address form" to divert your mail to another location.
- They may steal personal information they find in your home.
- They may steal personal information from you through email or phone by posing as
legitimate companies and claiming that you have a problem with your account. This
practice is known as "phishing" online, or pretexting by phone.
What are the effects of identity theft?
Once identity thieves have your personal information, they use it in a variety of
ways.
- They may call your credit card issuer to change the billing address on your credit
card account. The imposter then runs up charges on your account. Because your bills
are being sent to a different address, it may be some time before you realize there's
a problem.
- They may open new credit card accounts in your name. When they use the credit cards
and don't pay the bills, the delinquent accounts are reported on your credit report.
- They may establish phone or wireless service in your name.
- They may open a bank account in your name and write bad checks on that account.
- They may counterfeit checks or credit or debit cards, or authorize electronic transfers
in your name, and drain your bank account.
- They may file for bankruptcy under your name to avoid paying debts they've incurred
under your name, or to avoid eviction.
- They may buy a car by taking out an auto loan in your name.
- They may get identification such as a driver's license issued with their picture,
in your name.
- They may get a job or file fraudulent tax returns in your name.
- They may give your name to the police during an arrest. If they don't show up for
their court date, a warrant for arrest is issued in your name.
How can I tell if I'm a victim of identity theft?
If an identity thief is opening credit accounts in your name, these accounts are
likely to show up on your credit report. To find out, order a copy of your credit
reports. Once you get your reports, review them carefully. Look for inquiries from
companies you haven't contacted, accounts you didn't open, and debts on your accounts
that you can't explain. Check that information, like your Social Security number,
address(es), name or initials, and employers are correct. If you find fraudulent
or inaccurate information, get it removed. See
Correcting Fraudulent Information in Credit Reports to learn how. Continue
to check your credit reports periodically, especially for the first year after you
discover the identity theft, to make sure no new fraudulent activity has occurred.
Stay alert for other signs of identity theft, like:
- failing to receive bills or other mail. Follow up with creditors if your bills don't
arrive on time. A missing bill could mean an identity thief has taken over your
account and changed your billing address to cover his tracks.
- receiving credit cards that you didn't apply for.
- being denied credit, or being offered less favorable credit terms, like a high interest
rate, for no apparent reason.
- getting calls or letters from debt collectors or businesses about merchandise or
services you didn't buy.
What is "pretexting" and what does it have to do with identity theft?
Pretexting is the practice of getting your personal information under false pretenses.
Pretexters sell your information to people who may use it to get credit in your
name, steal your assets, or to investigate or sue you. Pretexting is against the
law. Pretexters use a variety of tactics to get your personal information. For example,
a pretexter may call, claim he's from a survey firm, and ask you a few questions.
When the pretexter has the information he wants, he uses it to call your financial
institution. He pretends to be you or someone with authorized access to your account.
He might claim that he's forgotten his checkbook and needs information about his
account. In this way, the pretexter may be able to obtain personal information about
you such as your Social Security number, bank and credit card account numbers, information
in your credit report, and the existence and size of your savings and investment
portfolios. Keep in mind that some information about you may be a matter of public
record, such as whether you own a home, pay your real estate taxes, or have ever
filed for bankruptcy. It is not pretexting for another person to collect this kind
of information.
By law, it's illegal for anyone to:
- use false, fictitious or fraudulent statements or documents to get customer information
from a financial institution or directly from a customer of a financial institution.
- use forged, counterfeit, lost, or stolen documents to get customer information from
a financial institution or directly from a customer of a financial institution.
- ask another person to get someone else's customer information using false, fictitious
or fraudulent statements or using false, fictitious or fraudulent documents or forged,
counterfeit, lost, or stolen documents.
How long can the effects of identity theft last?
It's difficult to predict how long the effects of identity theft may linger. That's
because it depends on many factors including the type of theft, whether the thief
sold or passed your information on to other thieves, whether the thief is caught,
and problems related to correcting your credit report. Victims of identity theft
should monitor their credit reports and other financial records for several months
after they discover the crime. Victims should review their credit reports once every
three months in the first year of the theft, and once a year thereafter. Stay alert
for other signs of identity theft. See
How can I tell if I'm a victim of identity theft? Don´t delay in correcting
your records and contacting all companies that opened fraudulent accounts. The longer
the inaccurate information goes uncorrected, the longer it will take to resolve
the problem.
Should I use a credit monitoring service?
There are a variety of commercial services that, for a fee, will monitor your credit
reports for activity and alert you to changes to your accounts. Prices and services
vary widely. Many of the services only monitor one of the three major consumer reporting
companies. If you´re considering signing up for a service, make sure you understand
what you're getting before you buy. Also check out the company with your local Better
Business Bureau, consumer protection agency and state Attorney General to see if
they have any complaints on file.
I have a computer and use the Internet. What should I be concerned about?
You may be careful about locking your doors and windows, and keeping your personal
papers in a secure place. Depending on what you use your personal computer for,
an identity thief may not need to set foot in your house to steal your personal
information. You may store your Social Security number, financial records, tax returns,
birth date, and bank account numbers on your computer. These tips can help you keep
your computer – and the personal information it stores – safe.
Virus protection software should be updated regularly, and patches for your operating
system and other software programs should be installed to protect against intrusions
and infections that can lead to the compromise of your computer files or passwords.
Ideally, virus protection software should be set to automatically update each week.
The Windows XP operating system also can be set to automatically check for patches
and download them to your computer.
Do not open files sent to you by strangers, or click on hyperlinks or download programs
from people you don't know. Be careful about using file-sharing programs. Opening
a file could expose your system to a computer virus or a program known as "spyware,"
which could capture your passwords or any other information as you type it into
your keyboard.
Use a firewall program, especially if you use a high-speed Internet connection like
cable, DSL or T-1 that leaves your computer connected to the Internet 24 hours a
day. The firewall program will allow you to stop uninvited access to your computer.
Without it, hackers can take over your computer, access the personal information
stored on it, or use it to commit other crimes.
Use a secure browser – software that encrypts or scrambles information you
send over the Internet – to guard your online transactions. Be sure your browser
has the most up-to-date encryption capabilities by using the latest version available
from the manufacturer. You also can download some browsers for free over the Internet.
When submitting information, look for the "lock" icon on the browser's status bar
to be sure your information is secure during transmission.
Try not to store financial information on your laptop unless absolutely necessary.
If you do, use a strong password with a combination of letters (upper and lower
case), numbers and symbols. A good way to create a strong password is to think of
a memorable phrase and use the first letter of each word as your password, converting
some letters into numbers that resemble letters. For example, "I love Felix; he's
a good cat," would become 1LFHA6c. Don't use an automatic log-in feature that saves
your user name and password, and always log off when you're finished. That way,
if your laptop is stolen, it's harder for a thief to access your personal information.
Before you dispose of a computer, delete all the personal information it stored.
Deleting files using the keyboard or mouse commands or reformatting your hard drive
may not be enough because the files may stay on the computer's hard drive, where
they may be retrieved easily. Use a "wipe" utility program to overwrite the entire
hard drive.
Look for website privacy policies. They should answer questions about maintaining
accuracy, access, security, and control of personal information collected by the
site, how the information will be used, and whether it will be provided to third
parties. If you don't see a privacy policy or if you can't understand it consider
doing business elsewhere.