Identity Theft

• Identity theft is the nation's fastest growing crime according to FBI statistics and identity theft/fraud is the fastest-growing category of Federal Trade Commission (FTC) complaints.
  
  
• "Identity theft" refers to crimes in which someone wrongfully obtains and uses another person's personal data (i.e., name, date of birth, social security number, driver's license number, and your financial identity— credit card, bank account and phone-card numbers) in some way that involves fraud or deception,
  
  
• How Identity thieves get your personal information:
• Business Record Theft: They get your information from businesses or institutions by stealing files out of offices
• Shoulder Surfing: A "shoulder-surfing" identity thief, standing next to you in a checkout line, can memorize your name, address and phone number during the short time it takes you to write a check.
• Dumpster Diving: They rummage through your trash, or the trash of businesses, and landfills for personal data.
• Skimming: They steal your credit/debit card account numbers as your card is processed at a restaurant, store or other business location.

• Old fashioned fraud:
• Stealing wallets and purses containing identification and credit and bank cards.
• Stealing mail, including bank and credit card statements, pre-approved credit offers, new checks, or tax information.
• Completing a "change of address form".
• Stealing personal information from your home.
• Using personal information you share on the Internet.
• Scamming information from you, often through email.
  
   
• How can I tell if I’m a victim of identity theft?
• Monitor the balances of your financial accounts.
• Other indications of identity theft include:
• failing to receive bills or other mail, which may signal an address change by the identity thief
• receiving credit cards, and/or statements of accounts, for which you did not apply.
• a lender tries to repossess a car you didn't know you owned
• being contacted by the police after a crime is committed in your name.
• receiving calls or letters from debt collectors
• being denied credit for no apparent reason...
• If you’re ever denied credit FIND OUT WHY!!!
• REACT QUICKLY if a creditor or merchant calls you about charges you didn’t make.