How Can You Tell If You’re the Victim of Identity Theft?

Identity Theft: To have your personal information stolen by a criminal who uses it to commit fraud in your name, leaving you with the burden of proving your innocence.

Unfortunately, most victims of identity theft don’t discover they’ve been targeted until after some damage has been done…sometimes a shocking amount of damage. Keeping a vigilant eye open for identity theft’s warning signs can significantly reduce the potential expense, wasted time, and emotional distress for the victim. Once alerted, an individual can then confirm they have been victimized, and immediately take the steps necessary to stop and reverse the damage.

The warning sings of identity theft: 

• You receive bills or credit card charges for items or you never purchased or authorized.
• You receive collection letters or phone calls for past due debts that you never incurred.
• You apply for a bank loan, mortgage, or car financing and are unexpectedly turned down or offered unfavorable terms due to negative credit history information…again, resulting from transactions you did not make.
• You may be denied rental housing due to negative credit information.
• You may be denied student loans due to negative credit information.
• You may be denied employment because of the information a potential employer has gathered about you.
• You may suddenly stop receiving expected bills or credit card statements because the identity thief has changed the mailing address to aid or cover the fraud they commit in your name.
• You may suddenly stop receiving mail altogether, resulting from a fraudulent change-of-address with the U.S. Postal Service.
• You may receive credit cards you did not apply for, but which the identity thief has already used to make fraudulent purchases.
• You may receive communications regarding an apartment you never rented, a mortgage you never obtained, items you never purchased, or a job you never held.
• While reviewing your credit history, you may see obligations or delinquent debts you don’t recognize.
• While reviewing your credit history, you may see that your personal information (name/initials, address, employer information, or Social Security number) is not correct.

In future articles, we will arm you with information you can use to lower your profile as an identity theft target, as well as what steps to take should you become a victim.