How can I prevent identity theft from
happening to me?
As with any crime, you can't guarantee
that you will never be a victim, but you
can minimize your risk. By managing your personal
information widely, cautiously and with an
awareness of the issue, you can help guard
against identity theft.
- Don't give out personal information on
the phone, through the mail or over the
Internet unless you've initiated the
contact or are sure you know who you're
dealing with. Identity thieves may pose
as representatives of banks, Internet
service providers (ISPs) and even
government agencies to get you to reveal
your SSN, mother's maiden name, account
numbers, and other identifying
information. Before you share any
personal information, confirm that you
are dealing with a legitimate
organization. You can check the
organization's Web site as many companies
post scam alerts when their name is used
improperly, or you can call customer
service using the number listed on your
account statement or in the telephone
book.
- Don't carry your SSN card; leave it in a
secure place.
- Secure personal information in your home,
especially if you have roommates, employ
outside help or are having service work
done in your home.
- Guard your mail and trash from theft:
Deposit outgoing mail in post
office collection boxes or at your local
post office, rather than in an unsecured
mailbox. Promptly remove mail from your
mailbox. If you're planning to be away
from home and can't pick up your mail,
call the U.S. Postal Service at
1-800-275-8777 to request a vacation
hold. The Postal Service will hold your
mail at your local post office until you
can pick it up or are home to receive it.
To thwart an identity thief who may
pick through your trash or recycling bins
to capture your personal information,
tear or shred your charge receipts,
copies of credit applications, insurance
forms, physician statements, checks and
bank statements, expired charge cards
that you're discarding, and credit offers
you get in the mail. If you do not
use the pre-screened credit card offers
you receive in the mail, you can opt out
by calling 1-888-5-OPTOUT (1-888-567-
8688). Please note that you will be asked
for your Social Security number in order
for the credit bureaus to identify your
file so that they can remove you from
their lists and you still may receive
some credit offers because some companies
use different lists from the credit
bureaus’ lists.
- Carry only the identification information
and the number of credit and debit cards
that you'll actually need.
- Place passwords on your credit card, bank
and phone accounts. Avoid using easily
available information like your mother's
maiden name, your birth date, the last
four digits of your SSN or your phone
number, or a series of consecutive
numbers. When opening new accounts, you
may find that many businesses still have
a line on their applications for your
mother's maiden name. Use a password
instead.
- Ask about information security procedures
in your workplace or at businesses,
doctor's offices or other institutions
that collect personally identifying
information from you. Find out who has
access to your personal information and
verify that it is handled securely. Ask
about the disposal procedures for those
records as well. Find out if your
information will be shared with anyone
else. If so, ask if you can keep your
information confidential.
- Give your SSN only when absolutely
necessary. Ask to use other types of
identifiers when possible. If your state
uses your SSN as your driver's license
number, ask to substitute another number.
Do the same if your health insurance
company uses your SSN as your account
number.
- Pay attention to your billing cycles.
Follow up with creditors if your bills
don't arrive on time. A missing bill
could mean an identity thief has taken
over your account and changed your
billing address to cover his tracks.
- Be wary of promotional scams. Identity
thieves may use phony offers to get you
to give them your personal information.
- Keep your purse or wallet in a safe place
at work as well as any copies you may
keep of administrative forms that contain
your sensitive personal
information.
- Cancel all unused credit accounts.
- When ordering new checks, pick them up at
the bank, rather than having them sent to
your home mailbox.
What should I do if someone has stolen or
scammed my personal information or identification
documents?
If your information or identification
documents were stolen or scammed, you have an
opportunity to prevent the misuse of that
information if you can take action quickly.
- For financial account information such as
credit card or bank account information:
Close those accounts immediately. When
you open new ones, place passwords on
these accounts. Avoid using your
mother’s maiden name, your birth
date, the last four digits of your SSN or
your phone number, or a series of
consecutive numbers.
- For SSNs: Call the toll-free fraud number
of any one of the three major credit
bureaus and place a fraud alert on your
credit reports. This can help
prevent an identity thief from opening
new credit accounts in your name.
- To replace an SSN card: Call the Social
Security Administration at 1-800-772-1213
to get a replacement.
- For driver's license or other
identification documents: Contact the
issuing agency. Follow their procedures
to place fraud flags and to get
replacements.
Once you have taken these precautions, there
really isn't anything more you need to do except
to check for the signs that your information is
being misused. See How can I tell if I'm a victim
of identity theft? and Are there any other
steps I can take to make sure I'm not an identity
theft victim? You don't have to file an
identity theft report with the police or with the
FTC until you find out if your information is
actually being misused. If another crime was
committed, such as theft of your purse or wallet
or your house or car was broken into, report that
crime to the police.
I have a computer and use the Internet. What
should I be concerned about?
If you're storing personal information such as
SSNs, financial records, tax returns, birth
dates, or bank account numbers in your computer,
the following tips can help you keep your
computer and your personal information safe from
intruders:
- Update your virus protection software
regularly, or when a new virus alert is
announced. Computer viruses can have a
variety of damaging effects, including
introducing program code that causes your
computer to send out files or other
stored information. Be on the alert for
security repairs and patches that you can
download from your operating system's Web
site.
- Do not download files sent to you by
strangers or click on hyperlinks from
people you don't know. Opening a file
could expose your system to a computer
virus or a program that could hijack your
modem.
- Use a firewall program, especially if you
use a high-speed Internet connection like
cable, DSL or T-1, which leaves your
computer connected to the Internet 24
hours a day. The firewall program will
allow you to stop uninvited guests from
accessing your computer. Without it,
hackers can take over your computer and
access your personal information stored
on it or use it to commit other crimes.
- Use a secure browser - software that
encrypts or scrambles information you
send over the Internet - to guard the
security of your online transactions. Be
sure your browser has the most up-to-date
encryption capabilities by using the
latest version available from the
manufacturer. When submitting
information, look for the
"lock" icon on the browser's
status bar to be sure your information is
secure during transmission.
- Try not to store financial information on
your laptop unless absolutely necessary.
If you do, use a strong password - a
combination of letters (upper and lower
case), numbers and symbols. Don't use an
automatic log-in feature which saves your
user name and password so you don't have
to enter them each time you log-in or
enter a site. And always log off when
you're finished. That way, if your laptop
gets stolen, it's harder for the thief to
access your personal information.
- Before you dispose of a computer, delete
personal information. Deleting files
using the keyboard or mouse commands may
not be enough because the files may stay
on the computer's hard drive, where they
may be easily retrieved. Use a
"wipe" utility program to
overwrite the entire hard drive. It makes
the files unrecoverable.
- Look for Web site privacy policies. They
answer questions about maintaining
accuracy, access, security, and control
of personal information collected by the
site, as well as how information will be
used, and whether it will be provided to
third parties. If you don't see a privacy
policy, consider surfing elsewhere.
Are companies allowed to print my entire
credit card number on my receipt?
After December 4, 2006, companies will not be
allowed to print your credit or debit card
expiration date or more than the last 5 digits of
your card number on your electronic receipt. Some
businesses will be required to make this change
sooner, depending on the way they process credit
card transactions. The law will allow receipts
that are hand written or mechanically imprinted
to show your entire number and expiration date,
even after December 4, 2006.
How can I prevent companies from using my
personal information for marketing?
More organizations are offering consumers
choices about how their personal information is
used. For example, many let you "opt
out" of having your information shared with
others or used for marketing purposes.
When should I provide my Social Security
number?
Your employer and financial institution will
likely need your SSN for wage and tax reporting
purposes. Other businesses may ask you for your
SSN to do a credit check, like when you apply for
a car loan. Sometimes, however, they simply want
your SSN for general record keeping. If someone
asks for your SSN, ask the following questions:
- Why do you need it?
- How will it be used?
- How do you protect it from being
stolen?
- What will happen if I don't give it
to you?
If you don't provide your SSN, some businesses
may not provide you with the service or benefit
you want. Getting satisfactory answers to your
questions, though, will help you to decide
whether you want to share your SSN with the
business.
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