To report identity theft, contact: The Federal Trade Commission (FTC) online at IdentityTheft.gov or call 1-877-438-4338. The three major credit reporting agencies. Ask them to place fraud alerts and a credit freeze on your accounts.
Inform your bank, building society and credit card company of any unusual transactions on your statement. Request a copy of your credit file to check for any suspicious credit applications. Report the theft of personal documents and suspicious credit applications to the police and ask for a crime reference number.
Physical Theft: examples of this would be dumpster diving, mail theft, skimming, change of address, reshipping, government records, identity consolidation. Technology-Based: examples of this are phishing, pharming, DNS Cache Poisoning, wardriving, spyware, malware and viruses.
Contact your police department, report the crime and obtain a police report. Decide whether you want to place a security freeze on your credit report.
Signs of identity theft
Unusual bills or charges that you don't recognise appear on your bank statement. Mail that you're expecting doesn't arrive. You get calls or texts about products and services you've never used.
Once an identity thief has your details, they can apply for credit cards, loans, and bank accounts in your name. From there, they may keep the money they borrowed and leave it up to you to foot the bill. In some instances, the lender may cover the losses if you're a victim of financial identity theft.
The easiest way to become a victim of a bank scam is to share your banking info — e.g., account numbers, PIN codes, social security number — with someone you don't know well and trust. If someone asks for sensitive banking details, proceed with caution.
An identity thief would have to obtain personal details such as your name, birthdate and Social Security number in order to open a credit card in your name. However, it is a federal crime to do this, and it can result in jail time when the thief is caught for their behavior.
Contact your bank immediately to let them know what's happened and ask if you can get a refund. Most banks should reimburse you if you've transferred money to someone because of a scam.
If you discover you've been a victim of identity theft, contact one of the three main credit bureaus (Experian, Equifax and TransUnion) and have them place a fraud alert on your information. Once you've contacted one agency, they'll let the other two know.
What should you do if you are a victim of identity theft or fraud? You should immediately notify the police, the bank, and the credit card holders.
The best way to find out if someone has opened an account in your name is to pull your own credit reports to check. Note that you'll need to pull your credit reports from all three bureaus — Experian, Equifax and TransUnion — to check for fraud since each report may have different information and reporting.
How to find out if bank accounts are fraudulently opened in your name. If scammers open bank accounts in your name, you may be able to find out about it by taking a look at your checking account reports. These consumer reports include information about people's banking and check-writing history.
How fraudsters can steal your personal information. Most of us know the importance of making our passwords and PINs secure and keeping them out of fraudsters' hands. But even simple details such as your full name, date of birth and address can be used to commit identity fraud.
The three most common types of identity theft are financial, medical and online. Learn how you can prevent them and what to do if they happen to you.
Victims of identity theft will feel overwhelmed at times by the psychological pain of loss, helplessness, anger, isolation, betrayal, rage, and even embarrassment. This crime triggers deep fears regarding financial security, the safety of family members, and the ability to trust again.
A thief might: steal your mail or garbage to get your account numbers or your Social Security number. trick you into sending personal information in an email. steal your account numbers from a business or medical office.
To get a better sense of whether products are being taken out in your name, you should be checking your credit reports. These are detailed listings of every form of credit in your name. So if someone has got a credit card, loan or other product by pretending to be you, it should show up.
Many online services require users to fill in personal details such as full name, home address and credit card number. Criminals steal this data from online accounts to commit identity theft, such as using the victim's credit card or taking loans in their name.