Identity Theft:

From Online Identity Theft

Guidance for Consumers and Business

 

Everyone makes a mistake once in a while, so let's assume you fell for one of the scammer's cons, and gave him your social security number, a fax of your passport, a credit card number, etc. What do you do now to prevent further damage, such as identity theft?


Click here if you have sent money to a scammer or are corresponding with a scammer about a lottery, sweepstakes, loan, money transfer, cashiers check or inheritance.

What should I do if I think my identity has been stolen or compromised?

If you think your identity may have been stolen, here's what to do now:

- DO NOT COMMUNICATE WITH THE SCAMMERS! They are dangerous criminals. You can be physically injured and even killed by fraud criminals. Do not travel to meet them or "claim your winnings". Some people who traveled to Nigeria and South Africa been beaten, kidnapped, or murdered.

- Contact your bank - If you think you’re a victim of identity theft or account fraud, you should call your bank, tell them what happened and ask them to monitor for unusual activity and advice whether you should close the account and open a new checking or savings account.

- Contact the fraud departments of any one of the three major credit bureaus (outside of the US may have different agencies) to place a fraud alert on your credit file. The fraud alert requests creditors to contact you before opening any new accounts or making any changes to your existing accounts.


As soon as the credit bureau confirms your fraud alert, the other two credit bureaus will be automatically notified to place fraud alerts, and all three credit reports will be sent to you free of charge. They will work with you to correct unauthorized transactions in your accounts and correct any incorrect reports to credit bureaus, as well as help to protect you from any future identity theft or account fraud. Also Call the fraud departments of all three credit bureaus. Ask them to put a "fraud alert" on your file. This tells creditors to call you before they open any more accounts in your name. Click on the blue link or call their phone number:


Equifax - 1-800-525-6285
www.equifax.com
Experian - 1-888-397-3742
www.experian.com
Transunion - 1-800-680-7289
www.transunion.com


- File a police report. Get a copy of the report to submit to your creditors and others that may require proof of the crime.

- Obtain new identity documents - If you sent your passport number or faxed a copy of it to the scammers, or done the same with your driver's license or other government documents, obtain a new document - be sure to explain what happened, so they cancel your old one and give you a new number.


- If you have seen unauthorized charges: Close the accounts that you know or believe have been tampered with or opened fraudulently.

- File your complaint with the FTC
. Federal Trade Commission (FTC). Click on the link at left or call the FTC’s identity theft hotline toll-free at 1 (877) IDTHEFT or (877)-438-4338 .


The hotline is staffed by counselors trained to help victims and take their complaints. The FTC maintains a database of identity theft cases used by law enforcement agencies for investigations. Filing a complaint also helps us learn more about identity theft and the problems victims are having so that we can better assist you.

- File a Financial Loss complaint form online with the Internet Crime Complaint Center, which is a partnership between the National White Collar Crime Center and the Federal Bureau of Investigation.


- Complete the FTC identity theft affidavit, which will assist you in reporting to many companies that a new account has been open in your name. Use the ID Theft Affidavit when disputing new unauthorized accounts.
Contact your state attorney general! to alert them to the scam or fraud activity.


- For more in-depth information on recovering from identity theft and help with specific problems, read ID Theft: When Bad Things Happen to Your Good Name.

Stay current with new scams as the emerge, so you don't have this happen again

Tips on How to Identify a Scam or Fraud

If the email, phone call, prize or lottery notification has any of the following elements, we strongly suggest it is probably a fraud and you do not respond to it. Below are some general tips to recognize scams. Detailed information can be found from the menu buttons at left:


- The name of the company is listed on this website somewhere.
- The email matches one of the definitions or formats on this website.
- The organization has no website and can not be located in Google.
- The email or requestor asks for bank account information, credit card numbers, driver's license numbers, passport numbers, your mother's maiden name or other personal information.
- The email or caller advises that you have won a prize - but you did not enter any competition run by the prize promoters.
- The mail may be personally addressed to you but it has been posted using bulk mail - thousands of others around the world may have received the exact same notification.
Especially true if you find an exact or similar email posted on this website.
- The return address is a yahoo, hotmail, excite.com or other free email accounts. Legitimate companies can afford the roughly $100 per year that it costs to acquire and maintain a domain and related company email account.
- The literature contains a lot of hype and exaggerations, but few specific details about costs, your obligations, how it works, etc.
- The prize promoters ask for a fee (for administration, "processing", taxes, etc.) to be paid in advance. A legitimate lottery simply deducts that from the winnings!
- The scheme offers bait prizes that, if they are real, are often substandard, over-priced, or falsely represented. Or, as part of the prize you can purchase "exclusive items" which may also be over-priced or substandard.
- To get your prize might require travel overseas at your own cost (and personal risk) to receive it.

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