You may hear a lot in the news about identity theft, data breaches, stolen passwords and more.
But how do you know if it's your identity that has been stolen?
If you were part of a major data breach, the company affected likely will reach out to let you know. However, by the time you find out, weeks may have passed. You can find out if you've been a victim sooner by watching out for these signs:
- Unexpected charges on your bank accounts or credit cards (sometimes thieves start with a small charge to test your account before moving on to buying more expensive items, so look carefully). You should set up alerts on all your cards or accounts, so you get text messages when anything is spent.
- Unexpected bills or collection notices may also start to arrive when someone is using your information to take out loans or order items online. Anything you don't recognize is a red flag!
- Surprise denials are also a sign that your credit or identity have been compromised. If you were expecting to sail through a loan or a credit card application with no worries, but you get turned down, you need to investigate what happened.
So, what are the things you should do first if you find out you're a victim of identity theft?
- First, you should contact at least one of the three major credit bureaus — Equifax, Experian and TransUnion. By law, each one is required to notify the other two, but it's best to reach out to all three, anyway. Ask them to put a fraud alert on your credit report, which will trigger additional security measures for anyone trying to access your information. In addition, you can ask each of them to freeze your credit report. (You'll have to unfreeze it when you need to use it, such as when you apply for a loan or a new credit card.)
- Contact your credit card and loan companies. You may need to request new credit cards with new numbers, update your username and password for online accounts and take other security measures.
- Report fraud to the Federal Trade Commission. In addition to letting the federal government know that you were a victim, the FTC will provide you with a personalized recovery report that will detail additional steps you can take to recover from this incident. In addition to the above steps, they may suggest contacting the companies involved or filing a police report.
- Update all automatic payments. This step can be a bit of a headache, but if you had subscriptions and payments set up to run automatically, you'll need to set those up again. (This is a good opportunity to really evaluate your subscriptions and recurring costs and ask yourself if they're really needed or if you can save money by ending them.)
- Monitor all accounts. Going forward, you'll want to make sure you've set up payment and spending alerts on all of your accounts. Getting a text message or email every time a card is used or a loan payment is made can really help. That way, you'll be alerted immediately if someone orders a pizza at 3 a.m. in Las Vegas when you're sleeping at home here in Virginia. (True story!)
Identity theft can be a nightmare, and we really hope it never, ever happens to you. But if it does, remember to call us so we can help ensure your accounts with us are safe. We're here for you, for life — and for all the curveballs life throws at you.
