Identity Theft Reporting – First Steps
The internet and mobile technologies have made information accessible on a level that couldn’t have even been conceived just a few short decades ago. Now, instead of having to get in your car and drive all the way to the store or shopping mall to examine or price a new product, you can simply get online and perform a half-second search. Instead of having to make it down to the bank by five o’clock on a Friday to make a transfer, withdrawal or get a balance on your account, you can simply access your account online. The only drawback of all these technologies is that they put more and more of your personal information within reach of identity thieves who can use it for their own purposes. As a consumer, you should be educated about identity theft reporting, including the necessary first steps if you think someone has stolen your identity.
Looking at an online bank statement and realizing that some of the charges were not made by you or your spouse can be a terrifying time. You’ll feel violated and insecure, wondering how it could have been so easy for someone to gain access to your social security number, birth date, address and other sensitive information. As soon as you suspect that your identity has been stolen is the best time to start the identity theft reporting process. The first phone call that you should make will be to the police. If you are travelling when the fraud occurs, be sure to report the offense to the local authorities first.
Once you’ve contacted the local authorities, you might want to continue your identity theft reporting by filing a report with the Federal Trade Commission. This is the best way to get details of your identity theft situation out to police departments and other law enforcement agencies around the country.
You also want to place a fraud alert on your credit report with one of the three major consumer reporting agencies. You only have to contact one of the agencies and they will contact the other two. Placing a fraud alert on your credit report will help prevent the identity thief from opening any accounts under your name. Also by placing the fraud alert, you are entitled to a free copy of your credit report from all three of the credit reporting companies. Get your credit report and check it carefully for anything suspicious.
When you are completing your identity theft reporting checklist, don’t forget to inform the financial institution that is associated with the account that has been compromised. Every major bank and credit card company has a security and fraud department, and these people will be able to change numbers and access information immediately so that the identity thieves will lose access to your money. Although you may be able to arrange the freezing of your accounts over the phone, it is essential that you also file a report with them in writing. Be sure to ask the representative what information needs to be included in the report.
Finally, along with these first steps, you need to keep a record of everything that you do to as it pertains to your identity theft case. Keep track of who you talk to, when, what was said and copies of any correspondence that you receive or send.
Identity Theft Stories – Learn from the Experiences of Others
Ever since the beginning of substitutions for cash money, like paper checks and debit cards, dishonest people have been finding inventive new ways to steal them from hardworking people and use them for their own enjoyment. Slowly but surely, people have realized that the process of using a paper check leaves too much to chance, as many early identity theft stories involved stolen check books and the resulting over drawn accounts. Eventually people began asking for identification when a check was used for a purchase or cashed, but by this point thieves were moving on to bigger and better things as well.
Now there are many different resources available for listening to and reading the identity theft stories of other people. Even if this tragedy has not ever occurred to you, the chances are that it will, on some level, in your lifetime. Now is the time to look over some of these identity theft stories to see if you can learn any preventative measures from the people and circumstances that they describe. Not everyone will have a situation that you can relate to, but many will include details about what people wish they could have done differently, both in their financial habits and in the reporting process.
Many identity theft stories start and end with the debit card. As a unique type of currency that has all but eliminated the need for slow paper checks, the debit card acts in many ways like a credit card. This means that the debit card has the ability to be used in any type of purchase situation in which a credit card would otherwise be accepted, the only difference is the money is withdrawn directly from your checking account instead of being charged to your credit card account.
Debit cards are very handy, except that people use them in many situations that allow the account number to be stolen. If you have ever used your debit card to make an over the phone purchase, you are literally giving the person on the other end of the line full access to your money. Many identity theft stories include details about debit card transactions that show up on a person’s account. While, the money might eventually be replaced by your bank, there are other consequences, like bounced checks and missed payments that will take a while to truly recover from. Protect yourself by only using your debit card in secure transactions.
Identity Theft History – Protect Your Money
It seems like since the boom of the internet and the increasing development of mobile technologies identity theft have taken a regular spot next to burglaries and arson as a part of the nightly news. However, the truth is that identity theft history began long before the internet made everyone’s life wireless and accessible. Even back in the days when everything happened through the mail and on paper, thieves were finding ways to locate and steal the sensitive information that gave them access to your finances and your credit. If you are interested in identity theft history, knowing details about how thieves think and operate might help protect you from falling victim to identity theft.
Long before the internet and lap top computers brought the entire world of information and shopping to your living room, thieves used to root around in dumpsters and trash cans trying to located documents that contained personal sensitive information. People who threw away bank statements, credit card statements, and partially filled out rental applications would be at extreme risk for having their sensitive information stolen by these dumpster diving thieves. After a while, banks, businesses and even individuals got wise to this tactic and started shredding all of their important documents so that thieves could not obtain their financial information in this way.
Today, many people may know to shred their important information before throwing it away but may not know that throwing away a PC (personal computer) can be another source for identity thieves to do their dirty work. Make sure you check out this article How to Protect Your Identity When Throwing Out a Computer to get more information on protecting your identity.
Another common scam in early identity theft history took place over the phone. Thieves who had grown tired of rooting around in trash cans and dumpsters took to the phones in elaborate schemes to get unsuspecting individuals to reveal sensitive details about their finances over the phone. Common phone scams included an identity thief contacting an individual to inform them that they had won a huge cash prize or a free vacation. Without thinking about the fact that they might never have entered any such contest, people would willing provide their social security numbers, address, and other information as a way of identifying themselves as the winner of the prize.
Now, identity theft history is riddled with scams and stories that originate from the internet. With the creation of spyware and other programming viruses that can capture your passwords and account numbers as you enter them for online purchases, thieves have access to even more information and even less chance of being caught. Many prime time television specials have been dedicated to identity theft history and the terrible stories of people whose lives have been destroyed by this terrible practice. Make sure you are taking all the necessary precautions to protect yourself.
Once you know how a thief can steal your identity, you can take the necessary precautions to protect it. Stay tuned to this website for more information on identity theft what to do to keep it from happening to you.
