My Experience With Identity Theft

I got my identity stolen about three years ago. I went to an ATM, tried to use my debit card and got a message stating that the card was no longer working. A phone call to the bank’s customer service was no help and they told me to come in for a face-to-face meeting with a bank representative. At this meeting, I was informed that a rogue employee had sold my personal information to a third party. Not only that, I learned that someone had walked into a branch in California with a phony social security card and tried to drain my savings account. Luckily, he could not get past my security questions. But my account had to be changed and my debit cards destroyed. The bank gave me two years of credit monitoring.

The credit monitoring would come in handy because before long, I was seeing applications for all sorts of loans popping up on my credit report. Too many inquiries to a credit report can bring down a credit score so I became very concerned.

Disputing these items on my report proved to be an adventure in itself. After many calls with the credit agencies and the creditors themselves, I was able to get most of these items taken off my credit report.

I then placed a secure freeze on my credit file with all three credit agencies. Placing a secure freeze on your credit report stops lenders and others from viewing your credit report and it is usually free. With a secure freeze, you will need to take extra steps to apply for credit.

Information about putting a secure freeze on your credit report for the three credit agencies can be found at the following:

Transunion - https://www.transunion.com/credit-freeze/place-credit-freeze

Experian - http://www.experian.com/consumer/security_freeze.html

Equifax - http://www.equifax.com/help/credit-freeze/en_cp

After I placed the security freeze with all three agencies, the inquiries on my credit report stopped.

I learned a lot about identity theft during this process. Here are some things you can do to stop someone from stealing your identity.  

1)      Review your credit report at least once a year. The website https://www.annualcreditreport.com will give you an annual free credit report from each of the three agencies for free. Examine the report for anything looks strange. If you find something on your credit report that you know shouldn’t be there, dispute it with the credit agency.

Information on how to dispute an item on your credit report can be found at the following:

 

Transunion - https://www.transunion.com/credit-disputes/dispute-your-credit

Experian - http://www.experian.com/disputes/how-to-dispute.html

Equifax - https://experian.referral.equifax.com/CreditInvestigation/home.action

2)      Do not carry your social security card in your wallet. If someone steals your wallet with your social security card and driver’s license, they have everything they need to obtain a new credit card or open up a bank account in your name. Also, do not write your SSN on checks. Do not give out your SSN unless it is absolutely necessary.

 

3)      Examine your bank statements and your credit card bills monthly. If you see any unauthorized charges, contact the banking institution immediately.

 

4)      Tear up or shred any junk mail which comes to your residence. Especially if you get one of those pre-approved credit card applications. Dumpster diving is a common method of identity theft. You should also tear up any receipts before you throw them away.   

 

5)      Cancel credit cards which you are not using. This is an unnecessary risk. Cancelling the card means that you have one less account to monitor.

 

6)      Consider subscribing to a credit monitoring service. You will get a notification any time a new credit event pops up on one of your credit reports. If something suspicious appears on your credit report, you will be able to deal with it quickly before it can cause more damage to your credit.  

 

The Federal Trade Commission (FTC) has published a guide about what to do if your identity has been stolen. It can be found at https://www.consumer.ftc.gov/articles/pdf-0009-taking-charge.pdf

For more resources on how to combat identity theft, go to the FTC’s identity theft website http://www.consumer.ftc.gov/features/feature-0014-identity-theft

According to the Bureau of Justice Statics, 17.6 Million people were victims of identity theft in 2014. That is 1 out of every 17 Americans. It is imperative that you take steps to make sure it doesn’t happen to you.