Identity Theft and Fraud

Red Flags for Identity Theft

Protect yourself by:

• Reading your credit reports
• Reading your bank, credit card, and account statements
• Shred all documents that show personal, financial, and medical information
• Don’t respond to e-mail, text, or phone messages that ask for personal information
• Create passwords that mix letters, numbers, and special characters
• Don’t use the same password for more than one account
• If you shop or bank online, use websites that are encrypted and secure (https)
• If you use a public wireless network, don’t send information to any website that isn’t fully encrypted
• Use anti-virus and anti-spyware software and a firewall on your computer
• Set your computer’s operating system, web browser, and security system to update automatically

Be aware of these warning signs:

• Mistakes on your bank, credit card, or other account statements
• Mistakes on the explanation of medical benefits from your health plan
• Bill or collection notices for products or services you never received
• Call from debt collectors about debts that don’t belong to you
• A notice from the IRS that someone used your Social Security number
• Mail, e-mail, or calls about accounts or jobs in your minor child’s name
• Unwarranted collection notices on your credit report
• Businesses turning down your checks
• You are turned down unexpectedly for a loan or job

What to Do If Your Identity is Stolen

Immediate steps to take:

• Place an initial fraud alert
• Order your credit reports
• Create an identity theft report

View full details at ftc.gov

Child Identity Theft

How to protect yourself and your child:

• Keep all documents that show a child’s personal information safely locked up
• Share your child’s Social Security number only when you know and trust the other party
• Before you share personal information on the internet, make sure you have a secure connection (https)
• Use a computer with updated anti-virus and firewall protection
• Be sure to log-out when leaving a site
• Limit the chances that your child’s information will be stolen or misused at school. Find out who has access to your child’s information and read the notices that the schools are required to send explaining yur rights under the Family Educational Rights and Privacy Act (FERPA).
• Safely dispose of personal information – shred it and learn how to dispose of information that may be stored on your computer, cell phone, or other device
• Share safety tips with your child, (i.e. don’t share passwords) and allert them to examples of phishing scams with e-mail, phone calls, or texts

Warning signs include, but are not limited to:

• Collection calls
• Denied government benefits
• Government agency notification of employment
• IRS notification of duplicate information of your dependent or another tax return

Tips and Best Practices

• Your financial institution will never call you to request information you received via text (SMS) or pressure you to reset your online banking log in password
• Don’t trust caller ID; Caller ID may be modified to show your financial institution’s name
• Don’t provide your online banking log in credentials, one-time password, account number or personal information by email or text or phone call. Using their published phone number, reach out to your financial institution to confirm that the request is legitimate
• Don’t give information over the phone if you receive a call stating that a transaction is canceled, even if the caller claims to be from your financial institution. Once again, contact your financial institution using a published phone number to inquire about the transaction
• Don’t click on links in unsolicited emails or texts
• Don’t give an unsolicited caller remote access to your computer

Free Credit Report

The Fair Credit Reporting Act (FCRA) requires each of the nationwide credit reporting companies (Equifax, Experian, and TransUnion) to provide you with a free copy of your credit report, at your request, once every 12 months.

To order, call 1-877-322-8228. Additional options are available at consumer.ftc.gov