What is Identity Theft and What should I do if it Happens to Me?

Identity theft is the act of someone using your personal information without your permission in order to facilitate their committing fraud or other crimes. The information stolen can be your credit card account number, bank account number, social security number or other personal information that allows a person to appear to businesses, service provider and creditors as if they were you.

If you think, for any reason, that you have been a victim of identity theft or that you may become a victim because some personal information has been taken or given out by you, you will need to contact the three major consumer credit reporting companies and issue a Fraud Alert. This tells creditors that you must be contacted and your identity verified before extending credit or making any changes to your existing accounts.
Be sure to close any accounts at banks, credit card companies, as well as local creditors so that none of your existing accounts can be misused. Open new accounts with new account numbers. If there are already fraudulent charges made or money transferred, ask how to dispute the unauthorized transactions.

You may also need to file a police report with your local law enforcement agency. If you know the identity of the thief who took your information, you will need to let them know. If you do not know this, make a report anyway because it will be needed to prove that you have reported the crime and obtain additional help in resolving any credit or banking issues.

Report your identity theft to the Federal Trade Commission (FTC). They maintain a database of people who have been victims of identity theft and the investigations to resolve the crime. This helps the FTC research ways that identity theft occurs because identity thieves are always creating new, unique methods to go your personal information.

Because it is far less difficult to prevent identity theft in most cases than it is to recover from the potential impacts from crime, it is very important to stop the identity thief before they steal your information wherever possible. Don't leave personal papers lying around or thrown into the trash because any information can be used by these criminals. Don't give personal information out over the telephone to anyone that calls you. If you need to provide personal information to someone or some company, be sure to initiate the telephone call yourself so that you know who you are speaking with before telling them any personal details.

There is no way to ensure that you will never be the victim of identity theft. There are simply too many people and businesses that require personal information in order to take care of your business and services that there can always be someone who steals information. But you can protect yourself by being cautious about who you give your information to and where this data is given out.