When it comes to identity theft, knowledge is power. Identity thieves are trying to get your information, and the more information you have, the better chance you have of stopping them. Keep reading to learn more about how to gain an advantage over identity thieves.
What Identity Theft Is
Identity theft is when thieves steal your money or a bank’s by using your information. In some cases, identity thieves will sell your information to other thieves instead of committing the next theft on their own. Identity theft might include the following crimes.
- Opening credit cards in your name and not paying the bills.
- Forging checks or online transfers against your bank account.
- Opening a new bank account in your name and cashing fake checks leaving you with a negative balance.
- Duplicating your debit or credit cards and making unauthorized purchases or cash withdrawals.
- Using your personal information to obtain employment or government benefits.
How Often Identity Theft Happens
You hear about big data breach identity thefts in the news every few months, but the truth is that there are likely smaller identity thefts happening every single day. Each year, millions of people are impacted by identity theft.
Sometimes, identity thefts go unnoticed because thieves can’t get enough information to commit crimes on the first try. Next time, they might get that one missing piece of information they need. Therefore, identity theft isn’t a question of if it will happen to you, but when it will happen to you.
How You Can Stop Identity Theft
You can never completely stop identity theft. Even the major credit reporting agencies, that collect your information from many other sources, have been hacked. What you can do is protect your information as much as possible.
- Sign up for credit monitoring services so you can be instantly alerted of new accounts and other changes to your credit report so that you can find out about possible identity theft the instant it happens rather than when you’re applying for a mortgage.
- Freeze your credit report so no one can apply for credit in your name unless you unlock it.
- Check ATMs and payment terminals for card skimmers before swiping your debit or credit card.
- Don’t access banking websites or send emails over public WiFi networks.
- Check your bank and credit card statements transaction by transaction, and dispute anything you don’t recognize.
What You Can Do After Identity Theft
After an identity theft, you have the right to have your credit report restored and your bank’s fraud protection to reimburse you for unauthorized transactions. To do so, you’ll need to carefully follow your account agreements for how to report identity theft and how long you have to do so.
Even with fraud protection, you may have other costs, such as missing time from work, ordering extra credit reports, sending certified letters, or maybe even having to hire a lawyer. These costs generally aren’t covered by bank fraud protection, but you can get identity theft insurance that would cover these costs.
Krog Insurance can help you review identity theft insurance policies and exactly what they cover so you can decide if this coverage is right for you. Contact us now to learn more.
