Protect Your Identity

The best way to find out is to monitor your accounts and bank statements each month, and check your credit report on a regular basis. If you check your credit report regularly, you may be able to limit the damage caused by identity theft. For more information, visit the Detect Identity Theft section.

Unfortunately, many consumers learn that their identity has been stolen after some damage has been done.

• You may find out when bill collection agencies contact you for overdue debts you never incurred.
• You may find out when you apply for a mortgage or car loan and learn that problems with your credit history are holding up the loan.
• You may find out when you get something in the mail about an apartment you never rented, a house you never bought, or a job you never held.

From www.ftc.gov

Stay alert for the signs of identity theft, like:

• accounts you didn’t open and debts on your accounts that you can’t explain.
• fraudulent or inaccurate information on your credit reports, including accounts and personal information, like your Social Security number, address(es), name or initials, and employers.
• 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.

From www.ftc.gov

Identity theft starts with the misuse of your personally identifying information such as your name and Social Security number, credit card numbers, or other financial account information. For identity thieves, this information is as good as gold.

Skilled identity thieves may use a variety of methods to get hold of your information, including:

Dumpster Diving. They rummage through trash looking for bills or other paper with your personal information on it.
 
Skimming. They steal credit/debit card numbers by using a special storage device when processing your card.
 
Phishing. They pretend to be financial institutions or companies and send spam or pop-up messages to get you to reveal your personal information.
 
Changing Your Address. They divert your billing statements to another location by completing a change of address form.

Old-Fashioned Stealing. They steal wallets and purses; mail, including bank and credit card statements; pre-approved credit offers; and new checks or tax information. They steal personnel records, or bribe employees who have access.
 
Pretexting.  They use false pretenses to obtain your personal information from financial institutions, telephone companies, and other sources.  For more information about pretexting, click here.

Via www.ftc.gov

Everyone wants to know how does LifeLock work? I know that LifeLock guarantees that they can protect my identity from being stolen, but what is the process? How is it possible that LifeLock can stand behind their identity theft protection service with a $1,000,000 Service Guarantee and only charge $10 per month?

First of all, LifeLock asks the credit bureaus to set fraud alerts on your behalf through their automated systems (the alerts are set within an hour). This allows for immediate protection against identity theft. Then every 90 days or so they ask the credit bureaus to do it again.

Next LifeLock requests that your name be removed from pre-approved credit card and junk mail lists and continues making the requests as they expire.

Getting rid of the pre-approved credit card lists may be worth the money in and of itself. Think about it - if you never received the credit card offers in the mail would you have ever applied for that card? I know I wouldn’t. So I guess LifeLock kind of protects us from ourselves.

For more information visit www.lifelock.com

There are two types of fraud alerts: an initial alert, and an extended alert.

An initial fraud alert stays on your credit report for at least 90 days. You may ask that an initial fraud alert be placed on your credit report if you suspect you have been, or are about to be, a victim of identity theft. An initial alert is appropriate if your wallet has been stolen or if you’ve been taken in by a “phishing” scam. With an initial fraud alert, potential creditors must use what the law refers to as “reasonable policies and procedures” to verify your identity before issuing credit in your name.  However, the steps potential creditors take to verify your identity may not always alert them that the applicant is not you. 

When you place an initial fraud alert on your credit report, you’re entitled to order one free credit report from each of the three nationwide consumer reporting companies, and, if you ask, only the last four digits of your Social Security number will appear on your credit reports.

An extended fraud alert stays on your credit report for seven years. You can have an extended alert placed on your credit report if you’ve been a victim of identity theft and you provide the consumer reporting company with an Identity Theft Report. An automated Identity Theft Report, such as the printed ID Theft Complaint available from this Web site, should be sufficient to obtain an extended fraud alert. With an extended fraud alert, potential creditors must actually contact you, or meet with you in person, before they issue you credit.

When you place an extended alert on your credit report, you’re entitled to two free credit reports within twelve months from each of the three nationwide consumer reporting companies. In addition, the consumer reporting companies will remove your name from marketing lists for pre-screened credit offers for five years unless you ask them to put your name back on the list before then.

To place either of these alerts on your credit report, or to have them removed, you will be required to provide appropriate proof of your identity: that may include your Social Security number, name, address and other personal information requested by the consumer reporting company.

As mentioned, depending on the type of fraud alert you place, potential creditors must either contact you or take reasonable steps to verify your identity.  This may cause some delays if you’re trying to obtain credit. To compensate for possible delays, you may wish to include a cell phone number, where you can be reached easily, in your alert. Remember to keep all contact information in your alert current.

From www.ftc.gov