Section I: How do I know if I am a Victim of ID Theft?
(If you are reading this manual and already know you are a victim of ID Theft, you may wish to skip to Section II and Section III.)
First, let’s define ID Theft. Anytime you use personal information in today’s high tech world, you are revealing some tidbit of information about yourself, which in the wrong hands can be misused. When a thief co-opts some piece of your personal information and appropriates it without your knowledge to commit fraud or theft, an ID Theft has occurred.
Most cases of ID Theft are limited a single aspect of the victim's financial life. One classic example is the theft of a credit card number. Another is the forging of a check from a victim’s bank account. These cases are the easiest to remedy because they are quickly discoverable and limited to the card or account at issue.
Other cases are more extensive and involved the misappropriation of many aspects of one’s financial life. Such cases involve the impersonation of the victim in setting up multiple accounts, using the victim’s social security number to obtain work and even impersonating the victim in civil court actions or with law enforcement.
The source and extent of ID Theft in each individual situation dictates the nature of the remedy. This concept is discussed in more detail in Section II.
Possible Indicators of Identity Theft:
- Your credit card statement shows purchases or charges you never made and cannot account for.
- Your bank statement shows debits to your account from checks you have not written or ATM withdrawals you have not made.
- A creditor or collection company contacts you regarding debts you have never incurred.
- A creditor acknowledges an application for credit, which you never made.
- You receive notice from a creditor that you have been approved or denied on a credit application which you never made.
- You receive a monthly statement from a creditor such as the power company, phone company or from a credit card, which you do not recognize and for which you never applied.
- You stop receiving statements in the mail from one or several creditors (indicates those statements may have been re-routed to another address).
- You learn an adverse civil judgment has wrongly been entered in your name.
- You learn someone has filed bankruptcy in your name to shed debts they have incurred in your name.
- Criminal warrants are issued in your name (happens when someone is arrested and falsely gives your identifying information as their own).
These are just some examples. There are many other signs of ID Theft, which might occur. The important point is to be vigilant. In Section III, we discuss Credit Monitoring Services and other means of discovering and protecting against ID Theft. The more we protect ourselves, the less the chance of serious damage to our personal and financial reputation.
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