Identity theft is someone stealing personal information then using that information for personal or financial gain.

PERSONAL – Stealing someone’s identity then pretending to be that person and performing criminal activities.

FINANCIAL – Stealing identification to perform fraudulent activates with someone’s bank, credit, computer and tax information.

*20% of the victims personally knew the person who took their identity
. - 10% family members, 7% friends/co-workers, 3% roommates

*30-60 hours victims spend repairing the damage of ID theft

*14 people are hit every second

- VIEW CREDIT REPORT TWICE YEARLY

- USE SECURE & REPUTABLE WEBSITES FOR ONLINE PURCHASES

- Do not mail bills from an unsecured location (household mailbox) – Bills often contain: name, address, phone number, and bank routing numbers

- Only carry the credit/debit cards and identification you need in your wallet. By only carrying a few cards you’ll likely notice when a card is missing.

- Keep your social security number and PIN numbers in secure locations. Never carry this information in your wallet.

- Never toss your receipts from debit/credit cards into public trash.

-Do not say your SSN out loud or give it over the phone.

*Contact the police department

(These agencies will assist you in taking the steps necessary to stop and fix the damages.)

- Always fill out all the information on debit/credit card receipts and take the remaining copies. Example: At a restaurant if your bill was $5.64 and you leave the “tip” and “total” spaces blank then the waiter could write-in $10.00 for the tip and $15.64 for the total. In this situation you lost $10.00 the waiter gained $10.00 and the restaurant is in the middle and won’t generally catch this.

- Always keep personal information in a safe location.

- Use anti-virus and anti-spy software and keep them up to date. Have a firewall running on your computer and/or router.

- Have an encryption key running on your wireless router. Otherwise your neighbors can steal both your Internet connection and may have access to your files.

- Check email and web addressees and make sure you are responding to the actual business/person and not someone pretending to be that business.

http://www.ftc.gov/bcp/edu/microsites/idtheft/
Federal Trade Commission - Identity Theft
The US government's central website for information about identity theft.

https://www.annualcreditreport.com/
FREE LOOK AT YOUR CREDIT REPORT
The credit agencies allow you to view your credit report for free ever year.

www.optoutprescreen.com
Opt Out of Credit Card Offers
Consumers can now notify the national credit bureaus online to remove their names from the lists that the credit bureaus sell to companies for pre-approved offers of credit and insurance.

www.ftc.gov
Deter. Detect. Defend. Avoid ID Theft
Identity theft is a serious crime. It occurs when your personal information is
stolen and used without your knowledge to commit fraud or other crimes.

www.privacyrights.org
Identity Theft Resources
Articles and related links on what to do if you are a victim of identity theft.

www.idtheftcenter.com
Identity Theft Resource Center
Identity Theft Resource Center (ITRC), is a nonprofit national organization for
identity theft. Provides consumer & victim support.