Dealing With Identity Theft
What are the first things I should do if my identity has been stolen?
In the event that you believe your identity has been compromised, the first thing you have to do is call local law enforcement and file a police report. Next step is to call the three major credit bureaus: Experian, TransUnion, and Equifax. Call them, or go online, and report to them that your identity is stolen and get a flag on your credit. That flag lasts for 90 days. From that point on, you call the Federal Trade Commission, and you go online to FTC.gov and you download their Good Name Packet. Their Good Name Packet has a checklist of all the different things that you need to do to restore a compromised identity. From that point on, make sure that you document every single phone call, every letter you write. Copy everything, certify everything, and keep solid records on the entire process. The problem with restoring a compromised identity is there's no one way to do it. It's a constant, evolving process.
What does it mean when my credit is "flagged"?
When a consumer's credit is flagged, that is because they initiated that flag with the credit bureaus. The credit bureaus being Transunion, Exqifax, and Experian, allow you to flag your credit which is basically another word for a temporary freeze of your credit that lasts for a 9 day period. This makes it difficult for anybody to open up new accounts under your name. After that 9 days, the account will then be thawed, and credit will be available again. The better option, if you have the option in your state, is to freeze your credit permanently.
What should I do to minimize the damage of identity theft?
Unfortunately many people who start getting calls from bill collectors for nonpayment of products and services, and they start getting paper in the mail, bills in the mail for nonpayment of products and services, they actually deny to themselves that their identity has been compromised. Therefore, allowing their identity theives to continue unabatted. The moment that you suspect your identity has been compromised, you must begin the process of tightening things up, freezing your credit, flagging your credit, getting monitoring services and then contacting local authorities and making sure that it does not continue unabatted, that you're actually doing something about it. Many people just turn a blind eye to the fact that they have been compromised and it gets even worse for them.
What kind of liability do I have if someone steals my identity?
When identity theft occurs and you have an identity clone running around, living as you, working as you, and committing crimes as you, you are as liable for those issues as if it were you, meaning that you are ultimately responsible for that stuff if you cannot prove that you had an identity thief or identity clone. You really are responsible to take this issue and harness it - make it go away as quickly as possible. To do nothing about identity theft is only going to make it worse and aspirate the situation.
Should I work with professionals to help me restore my identity if I am the victim of identity theft?
Because the identity theft issue has become such a major problem and most people aren't in a position to administratively restore a compromised identity to the point where it's effectively cleaned up, an entire industry has been built over the past few years that helps consumers to restore a compromised identity. There are a number of companies out there that do provide some form of assistance that will work with you and hold your hand through the entire process of restoring a compromised identity. Some of them are free, maybe issued through your existing bank. Some of them you pay a fee for, and once you start getting into private investigators and attornies it starts to become a lot more money. I would definitely investigate terms like idenitity theft restoration online, search those key words and you'll find a number of different options.
How long does it typically take to restore identity after identity theft?
Studies show that most people, when it comes to restoring identity, it takes a minimum of 175 hours to as many as 600 hours or more. That's usually 4 to 5 40 hour working weeks, or a lot more. Studies also show that 1 out of 4 people whose identities have been compromised never fully restore a compromised identity, meaning that 25% of all identity theft victims are dealing with this for the rest of their lives.
What kind of a crime is identity theft?
Identity theft wasn't a real crime until 1998 when the identity theft assumption and deterance act was created. Between 1998 and 2004 however, while identity theft was illegal the punishments never really fit the crime. So in the year 2004, the identity theft enhancement act was created. That really made the crime and the punishment fit.
What can I do if my credit is ruined by identity theft?
In the event you determine your identity has been stolen, you're going to have to go through an entire restoration process, which involves dealing with all the different bills that you may be receiving and all the creditors that have been defrauded. In addition to that, you're also going to have to deal with the fact that your credit ratings are probably plummeting. That means going to the different credit bureaus and informing them that your identity had actually been stolen, and filing with them all the different affidavits and police reports showing that in fact your identity had been stolen. They may actually go back to a previous point prior to when your identity was stolen and give you credit ratings based on that previous point.
What kind of documentation should I keep about the theft of my identity?
In the event your identity is stolen, it is absolutely essential that you maintain perfect records of everything that transpires from the point you notice your identity has been stolen. Every phone call you make, you document the information, you document the phone number, you document the person that you talked to, you document what they said, and you save that data. You document every letter that you send, every letter that is received, you make photocopies of them. Anything you send in the mail to any of these institutions, you need to send certified copies, making sure that they've received it.The key to restoring an identity is keeping perfect records, photocopying everything, sending everything "certified" (mail).
What do you wish your clients knew about identity theft?
The biggest misnomer when it comes to identify theft is that people's biggest concern is protecting their credit cards. Credit cards really are the least of your concerns. You can't protect your credit card information. You can, however, refute the unauthorized charges on your credit cards and essentially get those charges removed from your credit card statements. However, with identity theft, the problem stems when identity thieves begin to open up accounts under your name that you're not aware of. Credit cards you never see, loans taken out you're not aware of, and so on. That's the biggest problem with credit card fraud. And when it comes to credit card reports, most people never organise their own credit reports in this country. Somebody else does it for them. The lender does it for them, the automobile dealer does it for them. So they never actually see the information on their credit report. I believe, in this day and age, that a consumer should pay close attention to their credit reports and check them at least every six months. As often as you would get a physical at the doctor, you should be checking your credit repots. Too many people don't check their credit reports and think their credit is okay. If you don't check your credit reports, you're essentially leaving yourself wide open.
