The Case of the Stolen Identity
Today, there is a huge problem on stolen identities. A lot of Americans and Australians have fallen victims to these syndicates that operate around the world. In fact, 9 million American identities are stolen each year according to the information of the US Federal Trade Commission. The problem with having your identity stolen is that people can make loans and purchases using your credit card or other accounts.
How can you determine if your identity has been stolen?
Always check your bank statements or credit card statements. Make sure that you can identify all of the transactions that appear there. If you share the account with someone, verify those unclear ones to avoid arguments.
Have copies of all three credit reports which you can get from the Annual Credit Report site. If there is any account opened without your knowledge, this should alert you for theft.
Be a member of a credit monitoring service. This will help you watch out for theft of your identity for a price. You may inquire with the Better Business Bureau to know more about companies that provide this service
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If after checking and verifying, you have proven that your identity has been stolen, here are some things that you can do.
Make a call to any one of the three credit card reporting agencies. Inform them about your situation so that they will also inform the other two agencies. This is very important since before an account is opened under a line, verification of your identity is needed first.
In the event that you made the discovery late and a new account has been opened under your name, then you should notify each creditor about the theft. This will prod them to close the account and you will be asked to fill out a fraud affidavit.
If you have realized that your existing accounts have already been abused, then you should inform the creditor so that they can check the transactions made under your name. This will tell you how much has already been spent and how long the abuse has been going on.
Don’t forget to report this to the police. One of the detectives will take care of your case and ask you for information such as where the purchases had been made, how your identity was stolen, how much was spent, and other questions. Make sure that you have the name of the detective and the case number as these are needed to fill out and submit a fraud affidavit.
Call 1-877-IDTHEFT. This is the hotline of the Federal Trade Commission.
It would also help to change your passwords in the accounts you use. Try to create a more unique one which is completely not related to anything about you. Your birthday is a much too easy code to crack. Use also a different password for every account you have. Never store or save passwords on your computer even if it is your own.
Hold on to your records. From the time you have called the creditors and credit card reporting agencies, take down everything on a notebook. Names of people, case numbers, reference numbers, date and time of the discussion, as well as notes on the discussion have to be taken down.
Read the rest of this entry
How can you determine if your identity has been stolen?
Always check your bank statements or credit card statements. Make sure that you can identify all of the transactions that appear there. If you share the account with someone, verify those unclear ones to avoid arguments.
Have copies of all three credit reports which you can get from the Annual Credit Report site. If there is any account opened without your knowledge, this should alert you for theft.
Be a member of a credit monitoring service. This will help you watch out for theft of your identity for a price. You may inquire with the Better Business Bureau to know more about companies that provide this service
blog032613
If after checking and verifying, you have proven that your identity has been stolen, here are some things that you can do.
Make a call to any one of the three credit card reporting agencies. Inform them about your situation so that they will also inform the other two agencies. This is very important since before an account is opened under a line, verification of your identity is needed first.
In the event that you made the discovery late and a new account has been opened under your name, then you should notify each creditor about the theft. This will prod them to close the account and you will be asked to fill out a fraud affidavit.
If you have realized that your existing accounts have already been abused, then you should inform the creditor so that they can check the transactions made under your name. This will tell you how much has already been spent and how long the abuse has been going on.
Don’t forget to report this to the police. One of the detectives will take care of your case and ask you for information such as where the purchases had been made, how your identity was stolen, how much was spent, and other questions. Make sure that you have the name of the detective and the case number as these are needed to fill out and submit a fraud affidavit.
Call 1-877-IDTHEFT. This is the hotline of the Federal Trade Commission.
It would also help to change your passwords in the accounts you use. Try to create a more unique one which is completely not related to anything about you. Your birthday is a much too easy code to crack. Use also a different password for every account you have. Never store or save passwords on your computer even if it is your own.
Hold on to your records. From the time you have called the creditors and credit card reporting agencies, take down everything on a notebook. Names of people, case numbers, reference numbers, date and time of the discussion, as well as notes on the discussion have to be taken down.
Read the rest of this entry
