Life Event: Identity Theft

Life can seem pretty predictable until one day your checks bounce, or your credit cards are declined or you're turned down for a loan and you're left wondering what happened. Identity theft can strike anybody at any time and the damage done by thieves in a single hour can take a year or more to undo. As our society becomes more automated the problem only gets worse. It literally takes a second for a thief to grab your information. Make sure you know how to protect against and recover from identity theft.

Identity Theft and Guarding Against It

• Know what you can do to protect against identity theft.
• Identity thieves have uses for your personal information that you might not even know about and may not discover immediately, if ever.
• Know the methods used by identity thieves so you can better protect your information.
• Understand how credit monitoring services work and decide whether they're right for you.
• Find out what you need to know about fraud alerts and credit freezes and how they can help prevent identity theft.
• Protect yourself from becoming a victim of email scamming.
• Know what consumer laws protect your rights.

Recovering from Identity Theft

• Make sure you file reports with the police and other entities that monitor identity theft.
• Understand how to create a fraud report.
• Know when and how to close a bank or credit account.
• Understand how identity thieves use your social security number and what the steps are if you need to replace a lost card or get a new number.
• Know how to handle collection agencies when they come after you for an account an identity thief created or tampered with.

Preserving and Repairing Your Credit

• Consumers are entitled to one free credit report annually.
• Find out what you need to know about dealing with credit reporting agencies and bureaus.
• Understand how "furnishers of information" report your credit.
• Know what steps you need to take to remove errors from your credit report .