What to do if you're an ID theft victim or think you might be

SUN-SENTINEL AND FEDERAL TRADE COMMISSION WEB SITES
Tuesday, December 30, 2008

You've realized you're the victim of identity theft or think you might be, so what do you do? The No. 1 rule is to act fast. Don't hesitate to contact your financial institutions and close accounts. Here are more things you can do.

IF YOU'RE A VICTIM

• Act fast. Identity theft can damage your credit rating. Report suspicious activities — such as unsolicited credit cards arriving in the mail — and monitor credit reports at least once a year for erroneous information.

• Close all accounts that have been tampered with or opened fraudulently. Speak with someone in the security or fraud department of each company and report the crime.

• Close all credit card accounts and destroy the cards.

• Place a fraud alert on your credit reports. Fraud alerts can help prevent an identity thief from opening any more accounts in your name. Potential creditors must contact you before issuing a credit card.

• Request a copy of your credit report. You are entitled to a free credit report every year. If you sign up for an extended fraud alert, you are entitled to up to two free credit reports from each of the three bureaus. Monitor your credit by requesting a credit report every six months after discovering the crime.

Equifax: 800-525-6285; www.equifax.com; P.O. Box 740241, Atlanta, GA 30374-0241

Experian: 888-397-3742; www.experian.com; P.O. Box 9532, Allen, TX 75013

TransUnion: 800-680-7289; www.transunion.com; Fraud Victim Assistance Division, P.O. Box 6790, Fullerton, CA 92834-6790

YOU MIGHT BE A VICTIM

Take the following steps if you think you could be a possible victim because your personal, sensitive information was compromised in some way.

• Close all affected accounts and have account numbers changed.

• Cancel all affected credit cards and debit cards.

• Protect your account with a password.

• Watch your account statements closely.

• Report any fraudulent activity immediately to the bank.

• If your insurance information is compromised change the policy numbers.

• If it was human resources data that was compromised, change account numbers for your 401-k, life insurance, and account holding your stock options. Use passwords to protect these accounts as well.

• File a complaint with the Federal Trade Commission. Call FTC's Identity Theft Hotline: 877-438-4338. To file a complaint with the Internet Crime Complaint Center, go to www.ic3.gov/complaint/ default.aspx.To file a complaint with Florida Attorney General's Office, call the fraud hotline at866-966-7226.

COMPUTER THE SUSPECTED SOURCE

• Stop shopping, banking, and other online activities that involve user names, passwords, or other sensitive information. Malware could be sending your personal information to identity thieves.

• Confirm that your security software is up-to-date, then use it to scan your computer. Delete everything the program identifies as a problem. You may have to restart your computer for the changes to take effect.

• If the problem persists after you exhaust your ability to diagnose and treat it, you might want to call for professional help. If your computer is covered by a warranty that offers free tech support, contact the manufacturer.
Before you call, write down the model and serial number of your computer, the name of any software you've installed, and a short description of the problem.

• If you believe you have mistakenly given your personal information to a fraudster, file a complaint at ftc.gov, and then visit the Federal Trade Commission's Identity Theft website at ftc.gov/idtheft to learn how to minimize your risk of damage from a potential theft of your identity.

• Report computer fraud.

Hacking or a computer virus: Contact your Internet Service Provider as well as the hacker's, if you can tell what it is. You can usually find an ISP's e-mail address on its Web site. Include information on the incident from your firewall's log file. By alerting the ISP to the problem on its system, you can help it prevent similar problems in the future.

Contact the FBI at www.ic3.gov. To fight computer criminals, they need to hear from you.

Internet fraud: If a scammer takes advantage of you through an Internet auction, when you're shopping online, or in any other way, report it to the Federal Trade Commission, at ftc.gov. The FTC enters Internet, identity theft, and other fraud-related complaints into Consumer Sentinel, a secure, online database available to hundreds of civil and criminal law enforcement agencies in the U.S. and abroad.

Deceptive spam: If you get deceptive spam, including email phishing for your information, forward it to spam@uce.gov. Be sure to include the full header of the e-mail, including all routing information. You also may report phishing e-mail to reportphishing@antiphishing.org. The Anti-Phishing Working Group, a consortium of ISPs, security vendors, financial institutions and law enforcement agencies, uses these reports to fight phishing.