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I.
WHAT IDENTITY THEFT IS
Identity theft,
in simplest terms, is the use of your identity without your knowledge
in order to secure credit. That is, to borrow money or purchase
goods and services.
Today, identity theft is America's major white-collar crime, and
it's growing fast, thanks in part to the ready availability of personal
information on all of us via the Internet.
You're very wise to take a few moments to study the subject here
and learn how to protect yourself against its happening to you.
If it does happen to you, it can turn your life upside down overnight.
II.
TYPES OF IDENTITY THIEVES
There
are two main types of identity thieves, namely, identity theft rings
and individual identity thieves.
There
are two main types of identity thieves, namely, identity theft rings
and individual identity thieves.
Identity
theft rings operate using a hit-and-run strategy. They appear suddenly
in an area, set up their operation, identify potential victims,
burn out their victims' credit, then shut down and disappear.
How
do these rings identify potential victims? Often, they target high-income
individuals, such as people who own expensive homes or cars or are
members of high-income professions, such as doctors or lawyers.
Or they may target a group of individuals whose personal information
is relatively easy to gather, such as college professors, government
employees, or real estate brokers.
Once
the ring has identified its group of targets, it then hires an information
broker to obtain their social security numbers -- which is a simple
matter of running their names through credit bureau files using
what's called a "national identifier search." (Use of
credit bureau files in this way is now strictly illegal under the
new Graham, Leach Act, but this doesn't deter many unethical information
brokers.)
As
a rule, people whose social security numbers are found to be less
than readily obtainable are dropped from the list of targets. After
all, why bother, when there are so many millions of easy victims?
Armed
with social security numbers, the ring will then apply for credit
cards, loans, lines of credit, and checking accounts in the names
of the targets. It will have the credit applications, credit cards,
and checking account applications mailed to a phony address, perhaps
a small apartment rented in advance.
Once
the credit cards and blank checks start pouring in, the members
of the ring go to work buying expensive merchandise (stereo and
computer equipment and jewelry are favorites) and obtaining cash
via bank credit lines or by cashing bad checks. Merchandise accumulated
will be fenced or sold to pawn shops.
Very
soon -- before the credit card bills start arriving and the checks
start bouncing -- the ring will collapse its operation and move
on to a new area and a new list of targets.
The
other type of identity thief is the individual who, working alone,
impersonates someone else in order to obtain credit.
This
type of identity thief can be just as devastating to you and your
good credit standing as the organized crime ring described previously.
An
individual may get into this racket on either a short- or long-term
basis. The short-term identity thief is looking for a boost in his
or her standard of living and finds it by running up bills or obtaining
cash using somebody else's credit. The long-term identity thief
takes the scam a step further -- he or she essentially starts a
whole new life somewhere far away using the credit history and/or
employment history of the victim; in this case, oddly enough, there
may be no financial loss to the target, for the identity thief is
looking for a new start in life and will usually pay the bills he
runs up on the credit lines he's been able to establish in the victim's
name. Nonetheless, should he ever default on his obligations, he
can destroy the credit of the person whose identity he is using.
Furthermore,
whether the thief is in it for a quick killing (the short-term thief)
or for a whole new start in life (the long-term thief), the victim
is at serious personal risk. For example, suppose an identity thief
commits a crime -- or even a serious traffic violation -- while
impersonating a victim, possibly by means of a fake driver's license
or other forged document. It's quite possible, and has frequently
happened, that the victim will then be arrested and charged with
the crime or other offense perpetrated by the identity thief!
III WHAT TO DO IF IT HAPPENS TO YOU
Your
first indication that you've been a victim of identity theft will
probably be the arrival in your mail of a bill for merchandise you
don't remember ordering or a call from a merchant complaining about
a bad check or an invoice that never got paid. If this happens to
you, immediately gather as much information from the caller as you
can, such as when the purchase or loan took place, type of credit
used (credit line or credit card), account number, monetary amount,
where bills were sent. If a credit application was filled out, ask
to obtain a copy of it. Explain to the merchant exactly what's happened,
i.e., that you did not make the purchase or authorize the account,
and ask to be removed from his list of delinquent debtors and that
he not report it to the credit bureau in your name. Be sure to use
the phrase "identity theft" -- it's such a widespread
crime nowadays that it will leave no doubt in his mind as to what
you're talking about.
You should then follow up this conversation with a letter; a sample
letter for this purpose is provided in Section V.
At this point, having discovered that you've been victimized, it's
important to act quickly to minimize the damage to your credit standing.
Start by immediately
contacting all three major credit bureaus. Their numbers are:
Equifax (404) 885-8000
[main number]; (800) 525-6285 [fraud hotline]
Experian (888) 397-3742 [main number and fraud hotline]
Trans Union (800) 916-8800 [main number and fraud hotline]
Have a list of all your
credit accounts and account numbers at hand when you call. You'll
need to go through your credit report with the credit bureau representatives
to identify accounts which are fraudulent. Instruct the representatives
that each of those identified as fraudulent should be immediately
deleted from your file. (Obtain the name, phone number and complete
office address of each credit bureau rep you talk to and write it
all down; you'll need it later.)
Ask the reps for names,
addresses, and phone numbers corresponding to all fraudulent accounts.
You will need to contact each of these businesses and inform them
that you've been a victim of identity theft. You should contact
each one both by phone and confirm your conversations with follow-up
letters (See Section V for a sample letter).
Also, have the credit
bureau representatives mail you a copy of your credit report, with
the fraudulent accounts indicated. And as soon as you're off the
phone to the reps, write follow-up letters to each of them, documenting
your conversations (See Section V for a sample letter).
Thus follow-up letters
should be sent both to the credit bureaus and to the individual
merchants and bankers you talk to.
Within a week you should
have your credit reports in the mail with the fraudulent accounts
indicated, as you asked. These reports provide evidence that you've
been defrauded. Take these documents to your local police station
and file a formal police report. Keep the report with you; as pointed
out above, it's quite possible you'll be charged with a crime --
such as passing bad checks -- perpetrated by the identity thief.
The police report will go a long way in convincing the police that
your "identity theft" story is true!
Having done all of the
above, you still have several important tasks ahead of you to prevent
this incident from turning into a real nightmare:
1. Recognizing
that the identity thief may well have opened checking accounts in
your name, you need to contact the major check-guarantee agencies
(listed below). First, you have to inform them that you've been
the victim of identity theft so they'll refuse to guarantee bad
checks in your name (i.e., checks on accounts you did not open)
in the future. Second, you need to have them purge any adverse information
they may have on file about you due to bounced checks. Follow up
these conversations with formal letters and a copy of the police
report (see Section V). Send all correspondence via certified mail.
The telephone
numbers of the major check-guarantee (also called check-clearing)
companies are:
Chexsystems: (800) 428-9623
Telecheck: (800) 710-9898
Scan: (800) 262-7771
National Processing Company (800) 526-5380
Equifax: (800) 909-7304
Note: Be sure to keep copies of all letters you send to agencies,
credit bureaus and credit grantors, courts, etc. regarding your
case.
2. If via the check-guarantee
services or by other means you discover that bad checks have been
written, contact the bank on which they were written, speak to the
manager and explain that you have been an identity theft victim,
and ask that they refrain from reporting the checks to the credit
bureau and check-guarantee agencies. Follow up with a formal letter
and a copy of the police report, sent via certified mail (see Section
V).
3. Visit your local Department of Motor Vehicles and inform them
that you have been victimized by an identity thief. Ask to obtain
a new drivers license with a new drivers license number; verify
that your old drivers license has been voided in DMV records.
4. Visit your local Social Security Office. As at DMV, inform them
that you've been victimized; ask to have a new SSN issued in your
name. (You may need to show them a copy of your police report.)
It will probably take several weeks for you to receive your new
SSN.
5. Once you have your new SSN, it's time to start rebuilding your
credit. Begin by applying for one or more new credit cards, using
your new SSN. Do not have your old credit card accounts and other
credit accounts transferred to your new SSN; this will inevitably
result in some of the bad debts run up by the identity thief creeping
back into your new credit bureau file. Instead, start an entirely
new file with the new SSN.
6. Use BackgroundCheckGateway.com to find out if there are any currently-
pending civil or criminal actions pending against you. Go to the
Step 3 section of the website (from homepage) and click on the relevant
questions regarding civil suits and criminal history. You'll be
taken to the State & County Public Records section of the website.
Scroll down to the states and/or counties where you believe the
identity thief has been operating (based on the addresses of the
fraudulent bills you've received); then call the relevant county
courthouse offices, explain your situation, and ask them to search
their court records under your name. (Alternatively, you can hire
an information professional to run this check for you.)
If you find
court judgments against you, write a letter to the court explaining
that you have been a victim of identity theft (enclosing copies
of your credit bureau documents and police report) and ask that
the judgment be vacated. Send the letter and police report via certified
mail (See Section V, below.)
7. Write a letter to
the U.S. State Department, informing them that you have been a victim
of identity theft (including a copy of your police report) and requesting
that they confirm that a passport has not been recently issued in
your name. If one has, request that it be canceled immediately.
The address to write to is:
U.S. State Department
Attn: Passport Services
1111 19th Street, NW, Ste. 500
Washington DC 20522
Once you've taken this action, if the identity thief did obtain
a false passport in your name, he will very likely be apprehended
when he tries to re-enter the U.S.
8. After
a few months, and periodically thereafter, order a copy of your
credit bureau report. As often happens in these cases, you'll find
that despite all your efforts, some fraudulent charges have crept
back onto your new credit record. This will happen because some
merchants will continue reporting the bad debts to the credit bureau,
despite your requests that they refrain from doing so. If you find
this is happening, you should write a strongly- worded letter to
the relevant credit bureau, demanding that these fraudulent accounts
be removed at once. (See Section V, below.) If your request is not
honored you may have to have an attorney write a letter to the credit
bureau threatening legal action and/or a formal complaint to the
Federal Trade Commission, the federal agency responsible for regulating
credit bureaus. (Of course, you can write to the FTC yourself; see
Section V, below, for a sample letter.)
9. You should be aware that the federal agency with official jurisdiction
over identity theft is the U.S. Secret Service. The main focus of
the USSS is on the investigation of identity theft rings where the
financial losses are quite large, and you probably won't be able
to convince them to investigate your case; however, you may be able
to persuade them to take an official report and provide you with
a copy of it for your records.
10. Keep your police report (and USSS report, if any) with you continually.
Check your credit bureau record periodically. And finally, take
the positive steps outlined below to protect yourself from this
disaster happening to you again.
IV.
SELF-PROTECTION MEASURES
There
are a few simple steps you can take to make yourself an unattractive
target for identity thieves.
As outlined
in Section II, above, the key piece of information sought by these
criminals is the social security number. Once they have your SSN,
it's a simple matter for them to start opening checking accounts
and applying for credit cards in your name. What then can you do
to make your social security number harder for them to obtain?
Remember that
identity thieves commonly get their targets' social security numbers
through information brokers (which have proliferated on the Internet).
But how do these unethical information brokers get your SSN? The
answer is the so-called "National Identifier Search,"
a computerized scan of the files of the big national credit bureaus
which permits retrieval of social security numbers and other "header
information" (i.e., the information at the top of your credit
report); all the information broker needs is your name and address
to run this search.
Now, there's
not much you can do to keep an identity thief from getting your
name, but you can make it difficult for him to get your home address.
The way you
can do this is by using a post office box number on all credit applications
and other types of forms which will become public information, such
as voter registration records, instead of your home address.
Many experts
recommend you obtain a private post office box number, such as those
available through Mail Boxes, Etc. or Pac Mail. The advantage of
using a private post office box, as opposed to those offered by
the U.S. Post Office, is that you can use the street address of
the Mail Boxes, Etc. or Pac Mail shop as your own, and then indicate
"# [your box number]." In this way, you have the use of
an actual street address for those situations in which this is a
requirement.
Use your post office box address in all legal paperwork, on all
credit applications, job applications, mail orders or Internet orders,
warranty cards, etc.
A second very
important step in identity-theft protection is to get your telephone
number out of general circulation. Today, it is quite simple to
obtain someone's home address via their telephone number, using
an online criss-cross directory. Remember, once the identity thief
has your address, it's easy to get your social security number.
So you want to make your phone number (hence your address) as difficult
for strangers to obtain as possible.
You want, in
other words, to have your number taken out of the phone directory,
and thereby also out of CD-ROMs and other databases now commonly
available which provide nationwide listings of numbers. To accomplish
this, contact your phone company and request that your number be
non-published (don't use the word "unlisted," as unlisted
numbers still show up in many phone-number databases).
Just those two
simple steps -- using a post office box for all public correspondence
and getting your telephone number changed to "non-published"
-- will help greatly in protecting you from identity thieves. But
why stop there? There are a number of other important steps you
can take to further protect yourself:
• Use personal
checks only for by-mail bill paying, never for routine, day-to-day
purchases. Every check that you write contains identifying information
about your bank account, as well as your personal signature. What's
more the "check-guarantee services" which are now used
by most merchants compile databases of personal data and sell them
to information brokers and others. Thus it's important to minimize
the use of checks. For routine purchases such as groceries or gas
use a credit card or debit card instead.
• Resist giving
out your social security number. If it appears on your drivers license,
contact your local DMV and ask if you can have it removed. Do not
put your SSN on warranty cards, voters registration forms, or provide
it to any private businesses (they have no legal right to request
it). Never carry your social security card in your wallet or purse.
• Change your
address on your drivers license and vehicle registration to your
post office box address.
Contact the major credit bureaus and inform them that you do not
want to be included in "pre-screening," which is a marketing
service they offer to anyone who wants to buy it. In pre-screening,
the credit bureaus compile mailing lists of individuals from their
records who meet any of various criteria selected by their customers,
such as income level, credit worthiness, etc. Pre-screening lists
are commonly used by identity theft rings to target well-to-do individuals.
To be removed from pre-screening programs of all three major credit
bureaus, call 800-353-0809 and inform the clerk that you wish to
be removed from all pre-screening programs.
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