Identity Theft

The Schemes

Identity theft is the fasting growing form of white collar crime in the nation, and the #1 source of consumer complaints to the Federal Trade Commission and state and local authorities.  At stake is more than just your money – it’s your good name. 

If you can answer “yes” to any of the following questions, you may be a victim of someone posing as you to take your money, ruin your credit, and damage your reputation:

Have you received a telephone call from someone claiming to be from the county court, alerting you that you failed to show up for jury duty and that a warrant has been issued for your arrest?  Is this the first you’re hearing about the jury duty summons?  Did the caller ask for your personal information, including your bank account numbers or your Social Security number? 

Have you been called by someone claiming to be from the Attorney General’s office, alerting you that you’re a victim of ID theft, and that to help solve your case, you need to provide name, address, and Social Security number? 

Have you received an email from PayPal alerting you that in order to verify the information on your account, you must reply with your name, address, and Social Security number? 

Have you received an email from your bank asking you to call to “straighten things out” with your account, and providing you with a toll-free phone number, different from the bank’s regular 1-800 number?  When you called the number, were you asked to enter your account number and password for security purposes? 

Is your credit card bill late in arriving in the mail? 

Have you gotten a visit from a debt collector about a bill you never knew about?

Have you recently applied for credit and been unexpectedly denied because of a problem with your credit score?

Are you receiving correspondence in the mail about a job you never held? 

Help for Consumers

If you suspect that you are a victim of ID theft, in which someone else uses your personal information to establish credit, buy goods, seek employment, or access your financial accounts, you should take immediate steps to address the problem.  The good news is that there are ways of cleaning up your credit reports, and you are not liable for fraudulent credit card purchases.  The bad news is that it’s often a long process to recover from ID theft – some estimate that it takes about 40 hours.  So here’s how to get started:

One of the best ways to check whether you’re a victim of ID theft is to order your credit reports – mistaken information on a credit report is a good indication that someone else has opened up lines of credit in your name.  You have the legal right to order a free report once per year from each of the three major credit reporting agencies.    www.annualcreditreport.com.

If you discover that you’re a victim of ID fraud, use this step-by-step guide for contacting all of the right agencies and creditors:  http://www.privacy.ca.gov/sheets/cis3english.pdf