Survival Guide for Stolen Identities
Thu Jul 13, 2006 11:30PM EDT
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In a widely reported story, an employee of the Department of Veterans Affairs had his laptop stolen from his home sometime in May. On June 30th, federal officials announced the recovery of the laptop and pronounced that the sensitive personal information of 26.5 million veterans and military personnel that was housed on the hard drive apparently had not been accessed. They were lucky this time round, though Advisor Gina Hughes shows veterans how to check their credit report, just in case.
Veterans are just the tip of the iceberg, according to the Washington Post. It reports that in the last 15 months, corporations, universities, and other organizations alerted more than 85 million U.S. consumers that their personal or financial data might have been compromised due to data breaches, disgruntled employees, or just plain incompetence. (To prove the point, our own Chris Null found his identity mangled during his routine check on his credit rating.)
The FTC created a sort of survival guide for if or when your identity gets violated. And the faster you get to this list, the better off you'll be.
- Place a fraud alert on your credit file: Contact one of the three major credit bureaus (Equifax, Experian, or TransUnion), place a 90-day fraud alert on your credit file, and obtain a free copy of your credit report. A fraud alert tells these companies not to allow any major charges to your account. (You only have to notify one of these and they'll notify the others.) Twelve states, including California, let you place a "security freeze" on your credit. Stronger than a fraud alert, the security freeze makes it impossible for anyone to access your file for any reason until you instruct the credit bureaus otherwise.
- Close out accounts that you suspect of fraud and begin the process of proving you are a victim and not responsible for fraudulent debt. (The FTC site shows you which documents can help you prove this.)
- Report the theft to the authorities—both law enforcement and the FTC. Give them as much documentation as you can, which means you should be documenting every conversation or email between you and your credit companies.
Hit the link for the details. You'll probably want to bookmark it.
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2 Posted by dgould2 on Thu Sep 3, 2009 3:42PM EDT Report Abuse
I agree, good article I found some great ways to get a free credit report at: http://www.averagecreditscore.net.
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3 Posted by robertnoche on Thu Sep 3, 2009 8:45PM EDT Report Abuse
I was a victim of one. Don't waste time. Local and government agencies do help. Get documentation if possible. RFN
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4 Posted by trueurbanhavocemagazine on Thu Sep 3, 2009 10:22PM EDT Report Abuse
THIS IS NO JOKE.IT HA[[ENEDTO ME AND THE CREDUT CARD COMPANIES ARE TO BLAME. I ACTUALLY HAD ONE CUSTOMER SERVICE REP TELL ME THE NAME THEY CHANGED MY MOTHERS MAIDEN NAME TOO NOW HOW DID THEY KNOW THAT? BECAIUSE THEY PROBBLY DID THE SAME THING WITH THE OTHER PERSON..PITIFUL!
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5 Posted by lhsram2003@sbcglobal.net on Thu Sep 3, 2009 6:50PM EDT Report Abuse
I am a member of a service called Pre-paid Legal Services Inc. and what's great about them is part of their membership includes identity theft protection and not only are you protected, but if you are hit they help you restore your identity to before it wa----- .... it's incredible!
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6 Posted by toddtree1@sbcglobal.net on Thu Sep 3, 2009 10:14PM EDT Report Abuse
What needs to happen is a company that can take all the anxity out of What you need to do if or when your Identity is stolen. I think I have found the answer!! www.prepaidlegal.com/hub/tdfleischer Copy and past in your browser and read how, and what to do.
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7 Posted by tomsams@verizon.net on Thu Sep 3, 2009 10:16PM EDT Report Abuse
This just happened to me Monday. I got a phone call from a man in california, a man named Jeff who was featured on CBS nightly news. A crusader for identity theft victims. He told me, that through a music program, Frost Wire, my entire federal tax informatin was on the internet. I literally felt helpless, watching this monster pass my bank account informatin,my and my families social security numbers being plastered all over cyber space. I called the local police department and what time the officer was here, I was printing the information and handing it to whom. I had to close my accounts, call the credit bureaus and now, just monitor my accounts. I felt like my home was invaded and I was the accompliss. I thought I was doing all the right things. People, I beg you, if you got Frost Wire or Lime Wire, be careful. They can access any of your information that you have stored on your computer.
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8 Posted by melisarn3 on Thu Sep 3, 2009 7:15PM EDT Report Abuse
Prepaid legal is a waste of money. If you are a member, just send me your cash because you obviously don't have enough sense to manage it yourself. With Prepaid legal, all you get is an alleged discount off legal services. Of course the actual price of the service can't be promised in advance and the lawyers are under no obligation to take your case. So you are paying for something and have no way of knowing what value, if any, you are receiving. For example, a person gets a DUI, and calls the lawyer they are told to call. The lawyer tells them a retainer. The prepaid customer has no way of knowing what fee they'd have been charged without prepaid. If the client is unwilling to pay what the lawyer asks, the lawyer can't be forced to represent them. The client goes elsewhere and pays less to some other lawyer without a "discount"! Do you really want to trust your identity protection to those people? Uh, no thanks. They seem to be doing just fine taking your money.
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9 Posted by sandrakwallace@sbcglobal.net on Thu Sep 3, 2009 9:03PM EDT Report Abuse
We had good success with our Identity Theft Protection through Pre-Paid Legal Services when someone took a trip to Europe on our dime. The Identity Theft Protection is managed by Kroll International, the same folks that the Federal Government looks to in dealing with this problem. They are the only ones who actually offer restoration of all five areas of Identity Theft. On the legal services side, if a member is unhappy with a given attorney, they can ask to have another attorney assigned. This includes if they think they are being overcharged. Would you give up your health insurance if you didn't like your doctor? www.prepaidlegal.com/hub/d_mull
1 Posted by hskrntx on Thu Sep 3, 2009 4:21PM EDT Report Abuse
The PDF nor the other links work! Serves as a "scare" tactick only! Either ensure the links work so people can get the whole story or remove it!