Racoons Aren't The Only Thing Going Through Your Garbage!

Identity theft is one of the fastest growing crimes in the United States. The Federal Trade Commission (FTC) estimates as many as 9 million Americans have their identities stolen each year. Thieves will use your identity to rent an apartment, open a credit card, establish phone services in your name and you may never know about it until you’re contacted by a debt collector or you review your credit report. What’s worse, identity theft could prevent you from a job opportunity, loans for school or obtaining credit based upon negative information on your credit report. So how do thieves steal your identity?

• Dumpster Diving- Professionals know when you’re not home and use that opportunity to go through your trash for personal information. • Phishing- Professionals pretend to be financial institutions or companies and email you spam or pop-up messages requesting personal information. • Changing your address- Professionals know when your mail comes and will take credit applications and change the address. • Stealing- The old fashion way, simply stealing your wallets and purses, new checks, etc. • Pretexting- Professionals will call you pretending to be a financial institution or company and ask for verification of information.

So what should you do if you’ve become a victim of identity theft? First, you should file an ID Theft Complaint with the Federal Trade Commission. The next step would be to file a police report. This gives you certain legal rights when it is provided to the three credit reporting bureaus. (Be sure to bring your printed ID Theft Complaint form with you.) Next, be sure to contact all companies that opened a fraudulent account and get the records corrected. You can start with a phone call, but be sure to follow up with a written letter. Finally, continue to monitor your financial records for several months after discovering the crime. Review your credit files once every three months for the first year and then once a year afterwards. Awareness is the key to not becoming a victim of identity theft; practice safe information maintenance. You may also want to check out www.onguardonline.gov/topics/phishing. They have excellent information and a few fun games to play as well!