Identity theft is a serious crime that costs American consumers billions of dollars and countless hours each year. It occurs when someone uses your personal information without your permission to commit fraud or other crimes.
While you can't entirely control whether you will become a victim, there are steps you can take to minimize your risk. There are three things that people can do to protect their documentary identities that are recommended by the Federal Trade Commission, the government agency tasked with the protection of consumers.
Deter
Deter is defined as to discourage or dissuade, and you do that by keeping your information difficult to access.
Be very careful putting in print personal information, and if unavoidable destroy any such documents as soon as possible.
Protect your Social Security number. It should be given out only when and if necessary, use other documents when identifying yourself.
There will be attempts to get you to provide information over the phone or online, so verify the person before you do so.
Detect
Keep a close tab on your financial records and transactions, and have an eye on anything that is out of the ordinary. For example, if you have missing bills or statements, it could be that they were intercepted, or if you received requests for confirmation or follow ups on business that you have no recollection of, if could be an attempt to draw out information from you.
Defend
If you have reasons to believe that your identity is compromised, you must take the following steps:
Advice Equifax, Experian and TransUnion to put your credit report on credit alert, those three are the three consumer reporting companies. The alert will caution creditors not to entertain any request purportedly from you without your authentication. You don't have to make your report to all three firms because any one will do.
As soon as you strongly suspect that an existing or new account has been infiltrated, close it immediately to prevent further transactions.
Do not forget to file a report to the police with jurisdiction over the area of the suspected theft. You need to have proof that you have reported the theft to the authorities to avoid any liabilities that may arise out of the incident. File your complaint with the FTC. It is the FTC which keeps and maintains a data base that contain all pertinent information of the crime of identity theft that will help the police in their investigations. The FTC will need all the information they can get from you and other victims that will help in fighting the crime against identity theft.
While you can't entirely control whether you will become a victim, there are steps you can take to minimize your risk. There are three things that people can do to protect their documentary identities that are recommended by the Federal Trade Commission, the government agency tasked with the protection of consumers.
Deter
Deter is defined as to discourage or dissuade, and you do that by keeping your information difficult to access.
Be very careful putting in print personal information, and if unavoidable destroy any such documents as soon as possible.
Protect your Social Security number. It should be given out only when and if necessary, use other documents when identifying yourself.
There will be attempts to get you to provide information over the phone or online, so verify the person before you do so.
Detect
Keep a close tab on your financial records and transactions, and have an eye on anything that is out of the ordinary. For example, if you have missing bills or statements, it could be that they were intercepted, or if you received requests for confirmation or follow ups on business that you have no recollection of, if could be an attempt to draw out information from you.
Defend
If you have reasons to believe that your identity is compromised, you must take the following steps:
Advice Equifax, Experian and TransUnion to put your credit report on credit alert, those three are the three consumer reporting companies. The alert will caution creditors not to entertain any request purportedly from you without your authentication. You don't have to make your report to all three firms because any one will do.
As soon as you strongly suspect that an existing or new account has been infiltrated, close it immediately to prevent further transactions.
Do not forget to file a report to the police with jurisdiction over the area of the suspected theft. You need to have proof that you have reported the theft to the authorities to avoid any liabilities that may arise out of the incident. File your complaint with the FTC. It is the FTC which keeps and maintains a data base that contain all pertinent information of the crime of identity theft that will help the police in their investigations. The FTC will need all the information they can get from you and other victims that will help in fighting the crime against identity theft.
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