How to Protect Yourself Against Identity Theft 

Identity Theft Guide

Consumer Fraud---Preventing Identity Theft and Reducing Financial Liability 

What is Identity Theft? 

Identity Theft involves a criminal obtaining key pieces of someone’s identifying information, such as:  name, address, date of birth, social security number, driver’s license number, mother’s maiden name, passwords, and personal identification number---PINs.  This is generally done to impersonate the victim and acquire the victim’s current assets, or perhaps to open bank accounts, purchase vehicles or other expensive merchandise, apply for loans, credit cards, or social entitlements, establish residences, avoid prosecution for crimes, or to commit bigamy. 

It is important to understand, when a person is the victim of certain crimes like pickpocket, burglary, stolen mail, etc, such events are reported as crimes, but are not in themselves incidents of “identity theft.”  Such events however may result in identity theft.  And therefore, they should trigger heightened awareness and more frequent examination of credit reports.  Similarly, a lost wallet, or missing mail, should be reported as “lost” items and again should result in increased awareness.

Missouri Statute 570.223.1   Identity Theft

A person commits the crime of identity theft if he or she knowingly and with the intent to deceive or defraud obtains, possesses, transfers, uses or attempts to obtain, transfer or obtain transfer or use, one or more means of identification not lawfully issued for his or her use.

Some Preventive Recommendations:

• Order your Credit Report from the three credit bureaus as many times as you can afford.   Each bureau will provide one free report every 12 months.  Review the reports for fraud and/or errors.

• Promptly remove mail from your mailbox after delivery.  Do NOT place outgoing mail in your street box, raising the red flag indicating “Pick-up.”  Deposit Outgoing Mail at the Post Office.  Do not leave it unsecured street mail receptacles.

• Be aware of when you normally receive your routine financial statements.  Contact sender if they are not received in the mail.

• If you apply for a new credit card and it hasn’t arrived in a timely manner, call the bank or credit card company.

• Closely monitor expiration dates on your credit cards.  Contact the credit card issuer if replacement cards are not received prior to the expiration date of the old card.

• Beware of mail or telephone solicitations.  Just for fun, with another person, or looking in the mirror, practice being assertive.  If you do, the right words will come to you when pressured.  Just say NO!

• Never give personal information to anyone over the phone.  Protect this information and release it only when absolutely necessary.

• Shred pre-approved credit applications, credit card receipts, bills and other financial information, before discarding them in the trash.  Invest in a real shredder.  One that makes tiny pieces (not strips) out of your documents. 

• Empty your wallet and handbags of extra credit cards and ID’s, or better yet cancel the ones you do not use and maintain a list of the ones you keep.  Keep the list in a secure place in your home.  Shred the old cards.

• Never leave receipts at bank ATMs, bank workstations, trash receptacles, or unattended gas pumps.  Keep track of all your paperwork.  When you no longer need it, destroy it.

• Lock up your blank check stock in a secure place.

• Memorize your social security number, passwords and PIN#s.  Do not record them on cards, or anything else in your wallet or purse.

• Sign All credit cards upon receipt.  Never use a felt tip pen, because the ink can easily be removed by a criminal.  Use “gel” ink when signing checks and credit cards.

• Match all credit card receipts against your monthly statement, as soon as the bill arrives.

• Review incoming financial statements immediately.  You have a limited amount to time to protest charges and you can lose your money if you do not meet the deadline.

• Notify your credit card companies and financial institutions in advance of any changes of address or phone number.

• Never loan your credit cards to anyone.

• Never write credit card numbers or financial account numbers on the outside of envelopes.

• Use caution when using ATMs away from your financial institution.  Be aware of your surroundings and strangers invading your space.  Thieves sometimes rig the ATM to record account numbers, or seize inserted cards, then they use cameras, or “shoulder surfing” to capture PIN numbers.  Politely ask the customer behind you to give you some privacy.  Get in the habit of keeping some cash at home, so you don’t find yourself standing at the ATM at night.

• Review your checking account statement as soon as it arrives in the mail.  The best practice would be to phone your bank’s toll free number every Monday to make sure your balances are correct.  If your personal computer has had a problem with “malware” do not use it for access to your bank records.

• If you have had problems with P C “malware” never use your computer, or a public computer (library, hotel business center, etc) to do any financial business.  On infected equipment, criminal keystroke capture can record all your financial information, which will be sent as a file to a massive identity theft ring that controls these “Trojan horses.”

• Don’t fall prey to the “too good to be true” investment scheme.  All financial products sold in California and those who sell them, must be registered with the California Department of Corporations.  (See the attached phone list.)

• Opt Out.

• Carefully screen anyone who is hired to help with domestic matters and keep important financials and documents away from their view.

• Educate yourself about ID Theft and consumer rights.  Do not hesitate to phone The Federal Trade Commission or The Federal Trade Commission or The Missouri Commission of Finance, for advice.  (See the attached phone list.)

If You Become A Victim of Identity Theft, or Other Crimes:

• If your crime is financial in nature, immediately notify the involved entity, bank, credit card company, etc, to cancel any involve accounts and other accounts that might be connected with the incident. How fast you report the incident will determine how much of the fraud you will be responsible for.

• Next, make a police report with your local law enforcement agency and get a copy of the report.  Note:  If you are the victim of another crime such as robbery, wherein your wallet was stolen, or burglary of your residence, wherein documents were stolen, a police report will be taken for those specific crimes and not “identity theft,” until such time it is determined identity theft has occurred.

• For any crime, financial, or otherwise, set up a folder to keep a detailed history of the event.

• Keep a log of all your contacts (Date, Name, Agency, Title, Phone & What Was Said), and make copies of all documents.

• Call each of the three credit bureaus to report the incident.  Request that a “Fraud Alert/Victim Impact” be placed on your credit file.  A credit report should be sent to you from each bureau.

• Begin using “certified mail with “return receipt” for official notifications.

• Contact all legitimate creditors by phone and in writing.  Have alerts put on these accounts.

• If it is remotely possible that someone close to you committed the financial crime, terminate and reopen other checking and credit accounts and begin a lockdown of all financial documents and information.

• If mail has been stolen or tampered with, notify the U.S. Postal Inspectors.

• Contact the Federal Trade Commission to report the incident.  The FTC is the federal clearinghouse for victims of identity theft.  The FTC helps victims resolve financial and other problems.

• At some point later, contact the Department of Motor Vehicles to see if another license was issued in your name.  If so, request a new license number and complete a DMV complaint form.

• Collect fraudulent applications for credit in your name, from businesses, which should comply with state law requiring them to furnish victims with such documents.

• Obtain a description of the suspect (if possible).

Obtain any witness information, which can safely be obtained by phone.  DO NOT PUT YOURSELF IN JEOPARDY BY DOING DANGEROUS POLICE INVESTIGATIONS. 

Victim’s Additional Resources

Write the assigned case number in detailed history folder.  Take notes of conversation when you have contact with any business, or agency concerning this report. 

Many factors are considered before a law enforcement officer is assigned to investigate your case.  If the crime occurred in the area where you live and there are workable leads, such as witnesses and suspect information, an investigator will probably be assigned to the case.  Unfortunately, not all cases will be assigned to an investigator because there are not always significant leads to identify the suspect.  Call the area station, which provides general police services to your neighborhood to find out if an investigator has been assigned to your case.  Make note of the investigator’s name and phone number in the space below.             

Local Police Agency:    ____________________________________

Investigator:                  ____________________________________             

Phone Number:             ____________________________________             

Case Number:               ____________________________________

Other Contacts---Places To Find Help:

Federal Trade Commission                        1-877-438-4338  (1 877 IDTHEFT)

                                                                (Or www.ftc.gov)

Social Security Administration                    1-800-269-0271  (To Report System Abuse)    

                                                                (Or www.ssa.gov)

Mo Dept of Motor Vehicles                        1-573-751-4509

Postal Inspectors                                      1-314-539-9300

                                                               (Or www.usps.com)

Secret Service                                         1-314-539-2238

Missouri Commissioner of Finance            1-800-735-2966

Missouri Attorney General                         1-800-392-8222

Credit Bureaus

Experian

                    P.O. Box 949, Allen, TX, 75013-0949

                    To Order Report Call:  1-888-397-3742                   

                    To Report Fraud Call:  1-888-397-3742

          www.experian.com

Equifax

P.O. Box 740241, Atlanta, GA, 30374-0241

To Order Report Call: 1-800-685-1111

To Order Fraud Call:  1-800-525-6285

www.equifax.com

Trans Union

 P.O. Box 1000, Chester, PA, 19064-0390

           To Order Report Call:  1-800-916-8800         

           To Report Fraud Call:  1-800-680-7289

           www.tuc.com

Innovis Data Solutions (See Note on page 6)

P.O. Box 1358, Columbus, Ohio, 43216-1358

To Order Report Call:  1-800-540-2505

www.innovis.com

Facts:

• You Can Order One Free Report Each Year, From Each of The Four Major Bureaus Listed Above.For Your “Free” Reports, Consumers Must Use The Official Website, “www.annualcreditreport.com,” Phone 877-322-8228, or Write to the Individual Bureaus.You Should Pull and Review Reports More Frequently Than The Suggested “Once A Year.”  Additional Reports Cost $8.50 each.  Victims of Identity Theft Are Entitled To An Addition Free Report Per Year From Each Credit Bureau. 

• A Recent Study of Credit Reports Revealed 79% Had Inaccurate Information In Them.

Note:  Innovis Data Solutions quietly snuck into the business in 2001.  It doesn’t directly sell credit reports to creditors.  It does however play a unique roll, in that it provides information on consumers to the creditor, that is used for marketing list.  It sells personal consumer information on who may present a credit risk.  Most of the mail you receive when you move is due in part to Innovis.

Note:  If you enter the words “free credit report” into a “Google” search online, you will be referred to 35 different companies which are not affiliated with the official website.  It gets confusing as these companies deceptively try to steer consumers to “services” which will get you a free report, but will also ultimately cost you a monthly fee for their credit monitoring service.

Note:  Although One Free Credit Report per year has been mandated by the federal government, some consumers who are not familiar with web-searches, or who have slow computers, have found it difficult to access their credit reports via the internet.  The secure official website, annualcreditreport.com, is sometimes not user friendly.  It does, however, provide instant access to reports once consumers successfully work through the process.

The reports are a little easier to access when trying to order by phone at 877-322-8228.  The downside is that you will have to wait three weeks for the reports to be mailed.  Be sure to select the offered option to hide your social security number on each report. 

Some consumers resort to using regular mail service to accomplish the task of ordering reports, although much personal information must be provided to prove your identity.  Mailing this data via the postal service creates a bit of risk.

Note:  The three major credit bureaus furnish financial history affecting your credit score, but if you have a bad history with a bank, a separate negative database called “CHEXSYSTEMS” can stop you from opening a checking account for 7 years. 

For a chexsystem report call 1-800-428-9623.