If Someone You Know Is Stealing Should You Tell

Acquire what identity theft is, how to protect yourself against it, and how to know if someone stole your identity.

• What Is Identity Theft?
• How To Protect Yourself Against Identity Theft
• How To Know if Someone Stole Your Identity
• Monitoring Services, Recovery Services, and Identity Theft Insurance

What Is Identity Theft?

Identity theft is when someone uses your personal or fiscal information without your permission.

They might steal your name and address, credit card, or bank account numbers, Social Security number, or medical insurance account numbers. And they could use them to

• buy things with your credit cards
• get new credit cards in your name
• open a phone, electricity, or gas account in your name
• steal your tax refund
• utilize your health insurance to get medical care
• pretend to be you if they are arrested

How To Protect Yourself Confronting Identity Theft

Taking steps to protect your personal information tin can help you lot avoid identity theft. Here's what yous tin can practise to stay ahead of identity thieves.

Protect documents that take personal data

Keep your financial records, Social Security and Medicare cards, and any other documents that have personal information in a safe place. When you decide to become rid of those documents, shred them before you lot throw them away. If you don't have a shredder, await for a local shred day, or use a mark to block out account numbers.

If you lot get statements with personal information in the mail, take your mail out of the mailbox as soon every bit you can.

Ask questions earlier giving out your Social Security number

Some organizations demand your Social Security number to place you. Those organizations include the IRS, your bank, and your employer. Organizations like these that practise need your Social Security number won't call, electronic mail, or text y'all to inquire for it.

Other organizations that might ask y'all for your Social Security number might not really demand it. Those organizations include a medical provider, a company, or your child's school. Ask these questions before you give them your Social Security number:

• Why do y'all need it?
• How volition you lot protect it?
• Can y'all use a different identifier?
• Tin you use only the last four digits of my Social Security number?

Protect your information from scammers online and on your phone

If you're logging in to an online account, utilise a strong countersign.

Add multi-factor authentication for accounts that offer it. Multi-factor hallmark offers extra security by requiring two or more than credentials to log in to your account. The additional credentials y'all need to log in to your business relationship fall into ii categories: something you accept — like a passcode you get via text message or an authentication app, or something you are — like a scan of your fingerprint, your retina, or your face. Multi-factor hallmark makes it harder for scammers to log in to your accounts if they do get your username and password.

Do not give your personal information to someone who calls, emails, or texts you. Information technology could be a scammer trying to steal your information.

How To Know if Someone Stole Your Identity

In addition to taking steps to protect your information, it pays to know how to tell if someone stole your identity. There are things you tin can do yourself to detect identity theft. In that location likewise are companies that sell credit and identity monitoring services.

What you can practise to find identity theft

Hither's what you tin can practise to spot identity theft:

• Track what bills you owe and when they're due. If you stop getting a pecker, that could be a sign that someone changed your billing address.
• Review your bills.Charges for things you didn't purchase could be a sign of identity theft. So could a new neb you didn't expect.
• Check your bank account statement.Withdrawals y'all didn't make could exist a sign of identity theft.
• Get and review your credit reports. Accounts in your name that you don't recognize could be a sign of identity theft. Here'due south how you can get your costless credit reports.

If you discover that someone is misusing your personal data, visit IdentityTheft.gov to report and recover from identity theft.

Monitoring Services, Recovery Services, and Identity Theft Insurance

Many companies sell identity theft protection services that may include credit monitoring, identity monitoring, identity recovery services, and identity theft insurance. These services also might be offered past your

• depository financial institution or credit union
• credit card provider
• employer's benefits plan
• insurance company

Credit monitoring services

Credit monitoring services scan action that shows up on your credit reports. They might monitor activity at one, two, or all three of the major credit bureaus — Equifax, Experian, and TransUnion.

Credit monitoring services will commonly alarm you when

• a visitor checks your credit history
• a new loan or credit card account appears on your credit reports
• a creditor or debt collector says your payment is late
• public records bear witness that you filed for bankruptcy
• someone files a lawsuit confronting y'all
• your credit limit changes
• your personal data, like your name, accost, or phone number, changes

Credit monitoring services will not alarm you lot when

• someone withdraws money from your depository financial institution business relationship
• someone uses your Social Security number to file a tax return and collect your refund

If you're considering using a credit monitoring service, here are some questions you tin ask them:

• How often practise you bank check credit reports for changes?
• Which of the 3 credit bureaus do you monitor?
• Is there a limit to how often I can review my credit reports?
• Will I be charged each fourth dimension I review my credit reports?
• Are other services included, like access to my credit score?

Identity monitoring services

Companies that offer identity monitoring services check databases that collect different types of information to see if they incorporate new or inaccurate information about you. Those could be a sign that someone is using your personal data. These services can detect uses of your personal information that won't prove up on your credit study.

Identity monitoring services may tell you when your information shows up in

• a alter of address asking
• court or abort records
• orders for new utility, cable, or wireless services
• an application for a payday loan
• a request to cash a check
• on social media
• on websites that identity thieves use to trade stolen information

Most identity monitoring services will not alert you if someone uses your information to

• file a revenue enhancement return and collect your refund
• get Medicare benefits
• go Medicaid benefits
• get welfare benefits
• merits Social Security benefits
• merits unemployment benefits

Identity recovery services

Companies that sell credit and identity monitoring services likewise may offer identity recovery services to help you lot fix any impairment caused past identity theft. These services may be included or cost actress. Some of the services they offer may be things you can practice on your ain for little or no cost.

Identity recovery services typically give you access to counselors or case managers who volition help you recover your identity. They may

• assist yous write letters to creditors and debt collectors
• identify a freeze on your credit report to prevent an identity thief from opening new accounts in your name
• guide you through documents you lot have to review

Some services volition represent you lot in dealing with creditors or other institutions if you lot formally grant them dominance to act on your behalf.

Identity theft insurance

Companies that sell monitoring services also may offering identity theft insurance. These services may exist included or cost extra.

Identity theft insurance may cover

• out-of-pocket expenses directly associated with reclaiming your identity, like
  • the cost of copying documents
  • postage costs for sending documents
  • costs for getting documents notarized
• wages you lost
• legal fees yous paid

Identity theft insurance generally won't reimburse you for money stolen or financial loss resulting from the theft. Well-nigh policies won't pay if your loss is covered past your homeowner'south or renter'due south insurance. If y'all're considering getting identity theft insurance, ask about the deductible and find out what's covered and what isn't.

Observe out how to recognize the signs of medical identity theft, revenue enhancement identity theft, and child identity theft.

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Source: https://consumer.ftc.gov/articles/what-know-about-identity-theft

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