SafetyCops.com

With your name, social security number, and date of birth, someone can:

	Drain bank accounts
	Get credit cards
	Buy a gun
	Get a driver’s license
	Get loans

How often does it happen?

More than half of the identity theft complaints received by the Federal Trades Commission (FTC) involve credit card fraud. The balance of complaints relate to:

	Unauthorized telephone or utility services (25%),
	Bank fraud (16%),
	Fraudulent loans (9%), and
	Government documents such as driver’s licenses, tax returns, or benefits (8%).
	About 12% of all complainants to the FTC had a personal relationship with the suspect.

What information can be used by thieves?

	name
	address
	phone number
	social security number
	driver's license number
	checking account number
	savings account number
	credit card number
	debit card number
	telephone calling card number
	employee identification number
	electronic identification numbers (passwords, PINs)
	digital signature
	mother’s maiden name
	any other numbers or information used to access financial resources
	passport and citizenship papers

How is personal information taken?

	Stealing a wallet, purse, drivers’ license, credit cards
	Having access to social security numbers (which may be on your driver’s license, health insurance card, or school ID)
	Going through trash or robbing mailboxes
	Taking personal and credit information from insecure Internet buying sites
	Misuse of company property (such as taking someone’s name, address, and credit card information from a mail-order company)
	Making fraudulent offers (including the recent "Slave Reparations Act," scam in which perpetrators told elderly African Americans that $5,000 would be added to their Social Security check if they sent their name, date of birth, and Social Security number to the address listed).

How does identity theft affect victims?

If you are a victim of identity theft, take the following steps immediately:

Contact the fraud units of the three principal credit bureaus—Equifax, Experian, and Trans Union—by phone and in writing.

Ask for a "fraud alert" to be placed in your file.

Request that a victim’s statement be put on file asking creditors to call you before opening new accounts or changing existing accounts.

Request copies of your credit reports in writing. You are entitled to a free copy if the report is inaccurate as a result of fraud. Monitor activity monthly.

Check your credit reports carefully. Have companies that opened the fraudulent accounts remove them.

Contact the billing departments of your creditors—credit card companies, banks, phone services, and other utilities—about any suspect accounts, by phone and in writing.

Confirm which recent activity on your accounts is your own. Put stop-payment orders on any outstanding checks that haven’t cleared. Immediately dispute any fraudulent accounts and follow up in writing.

Change your account passwords and access codes. Close ATM or credit card accounts that have been used fraudulently, and open new ones. Get new cards issued with new Personal Identification Numbers (PINs) and new passwords.

Avoid using your mother’s maiden name, your telephone number, birth date, or other obvious codes.

Follow the correct procedures for reporting the theft of credit cards, ATM, and debit cards in order to limit your liability. You can find further details with helpful sample letters, in "When Bad Things Happen to your Good Name" published by the Federal Trade Commission at www.ftc.gov.

Ask who has jurisdiction over identity theft and fraud investigations and prosecutions in your area. File a report with that organization. Request a copy of all reports made. Creditors may require these copies to make corrections to your credit history. Make a report to the Federal Trade Commission (FTC).

Take the following additional steps, as necessary:

If the perpetrator used the mail to commit fraud and/or submitted fraudulent change of address requests to redirect your mail, contact the local office of the Postal Inspection Service.

If someone is using your Social Security Number to work or apply for a job, contact the Social Security Administration’s fraud hotline (800-269-0271). Call 1-800 772-1213 (and follow up in writing) to verify the accuracy of the earnings reported on your Social Security Number and request a copy of your Social Security Statement.

If your name or Social Security Number is being used to fraudulently obtain a driver’s license, contact your Department of Motor Vehicles.

If someone has filed for bankruptcy in your name, write to your regional U.S. Trustee (see www.usdoj.gov/ust or Blue Pages under U.S. Government—Bankruptcy Administration)

If your identification information has been improperly used in connection with tax violations, contact the Internal Revenue Service (1-800-829-0433).

Find out if free legal assistance is available—especially if your credit is severely damaged, legal action is taken against you, or you have been left with a criminal record as a result of the fraudulent use of your identity. Contact your local bar association or legal aid office.

Maintain a file documenting all your efforts in response to the theft. Log every phone call, noting the name of the person to whom you spoke. Follow up every call in writing. Keep a copy of all letters you send in connection with the crime.

Know your state’s identity-theft laws and your rights as a victim.

Seek support from family or friends, or speak to a counselor or victim advocate. Responding to identity theft is emotionally exhausting as well as time-consuming.

General Safety Precautions against Identity Theft:

Guard your personal information closely. Ask why it is needed, how it will be used, and whether it will be shared or sold. Be wary of any caller who claims it is necessary to verify your personal identifying information. Do not include personal data on contest entry forms.

Remember that thieves may intercept personal information shared over insecure Internet connections.

Store your social security card and passport in a safe place rather than keeping them with you all the time. Only carry essential credit cards, bank cards, and checks.

Share all personal documents, mail, receipts, pay stubs, and credit card offers before disposing of them.

Limit the number of credit cards you use and close unnecessary accounts. Be attuned to the billing cycles of your different accounts and notify the creditor quickly if you fail to receive a bill or replacement card on time. Carefully check credit card and telephone bills as well as bank statements for unauthorized charges or activity.

Secure your mailbox. If you plan to be away, have a trusted friend, relative, or neighbor retrieve your mail, or ask the post office to hold it until your return. Send mail via a secure U.S. Post Office collection box rather than leaving it for pickup in an insecure location.

Guard your personal information at work. Find out how your employer stores and protects your information. Don’t keep personal identifying information, credit information, bills, or receipts in your office. Don’t dispose of these documents in your office trash or send personal mail through the office mail system.

At least once a year, request a copy of your credit report from each of the three credit reporting bureaus and check to see that the personal information reflected in the reports is accurate. Contact creditors about any suspicious entries.

Call toll-free, (888) OPT-OUT, to halt credit card solicitations.

Contact the Direct Marketing Association and have your name removed from telemarketing, e-mail, and mailing lists used and sold by companies.

Check all your financial statements regularly for what should and shouldn’t be there.

Always keep careful records of banking and other accounts.

RESOURCES:

Copyright © 2001 by the National Center for Victims of Crime.  This information may be freely distributed, provided that it is distributed free of charge, in its entirety and includes this copyright notice.