March is Fraud Awareness Month and this blog will tackle“ Identity Theft”
Every year, thousands of people from all walks of life fall victim to identity theft.
Identity theft occurs when someone uses your personal information without your knowledge or consent to commit a crime, such as fraud or theft.
In addition to names, addresses and phone numbers, thieves look for:
• social insurance numbers;
• driver’s license numbers;
• credit card and banking information;
• bank cards;
• calling cards;
• birth certificates
• passports.
Identity thieves will manipulate your information and invade your personal and financial life.
Identity thieves can use stolen identities to:
• conduct spending sprees,
• open new bank accounts,
• redirect mail,
• apply for loans,
• credit cards
• social benefits,
• rent apartments,
• establish cellular phone service,
• rent vehicles,
• rent equipment
• secure employment
• commit more serious crimes.
Identity thieves may get your personal information by:
• removing mail from your mailbox or fraudulently redirecting your mail;
• stealing personal and private information from wallets, purses, mail, your home, vehicle, computer, and websites you’ve visited or e-mails you’ve sent;
• retrieving personal information in your garbage or recycling bin by “dumpster diving”;
• posing as a creditor, landlord or employer to get a copy of your credit report or access to your personal information from other confidential sources;
• tampering with automated banking machines (ABMs) and point of sale terminals, enabling thieves to read your debit or credit card number and Personal Identification Number (PIN);
• searching public sources, such as newspapers (obituaries), telephone books, and records open to the public (professional certifications);
• buying the information from a dishonest employee working where personal and/or financial information is stored.
How do I know if my identity has been stolen?
• Bills and statements don’t arrive when they are supposed to — they may have been stolen from the mailbox or someone has changed the mailing address.
• You receive calls from collection agencies or creditors for an account you don’t have or that is up to date. Someone may have opened a new account in your name, or added charges to an account without your knowledge or permission.
• Financial account statements show withdrawals or transfers you didn’t make.
• A creditor calls to say you’ve been approved or denied credit that you haven’t applied for. Or, you get credit card statements for accounts you don’t have.
• You apply for credit and are turned down, for reasons that do not match your understanding of your financial position
How to fight identity theft?
• Minimize the risk. Be careful about sharing personal information or letting it circulate freely.
• When you are asked to provide personal information, ask how it will be used, why it is needed, who will be sharing it and how it will be safeguarded.
• Give out no more than the minimum, and carry the least possible with you.
• Be particularly careful about your SIN; it is an important key to your identity, especially in credit reports and computer databases.
• Don’t give your credit card number on the telephone, by electronic mail, or to a voice mailbox, unless you know the person with whom you’re communicating or you initiated the communication yourself, and you know that the communication channel is secure.
• Take advantage of technologies that enhance your security and privacy when you use the Internet, such as digital signatures, data encryption, and “anonymizing” services.
• Pay attention to your billing cycle. If credit card or utility bills fail to arrive, contact the companies to ensure that they have not been illicitly redirected.
• Notify creditors immediately if your identification or credit cards are lost or stolen.
• Access your credit report from a credit reporting agency once a year to ensure it’s accurate and doesn’t include debts or activities you haven’t authorized or incurred.
• Ask that your accounts require passwords before any inquiries or changes can be made, whenever possible.
• Choose difficult passwords — not your mother’s maiden name. Memorize them, change them often. Don’t write them down and leave them in your wallet, or some equally obvious place.
• Key in personal identification numbers privately when you use direct purchase terminals, bank machines, or telephones.
• Find out if your cardholder agreement offers protection from credit card fraud; you may be able to avoid taking on the identity thief’s debts.
• Be careful what you throw out. Burn or shred personal financial information such as statements, credit card offers, receipts, insurance forms, etc. Insist that businesses you deal with do the same.
Are you a victim of identity theft?
• Report the crime to the police immediately. Ask for a copy of the police report so that you can provide proof of the theft to the organizations that you will have to contact later.
• Take steps to undo the damage. Avoid “credit-repair” companies: there is usually nothing they can do, and some have been known to propose a solution — establishing credit under a new identity — that is itself fraudulent.
• Document the steps you take and the expenses you incur to clear your name and re-establish your credit.
• Cancel your credit cards and get new ones issued. Ask the creditors about accounts tampered with or opened fraudulently in your name.
• Have your credit report annotated to reflect the identity theft. Do a follow-up check three months after to ensure that someone has not tried to use your identity again.
• Close your bank accounts and open new ones. Insist on password-only access to them.
• Get new bank machine and telephone calling cards, with new passwords or personal identification numbers.
• In the case of passport theft, advise the Passport Office.
• Contact Canada Post if you suspect that someone is diverting your mail.
• Advise your telephone, cable, and utilities that someone using your name could try to open new accounts fraudulently.
• Get a new driver’s license.
If you suspect that someone has been using your SIN to get a job, or that your SIN has been compromised in some other way, contact Service Canada at:
Service Canada
Social Insurance Registration Office
P.O. Box 7000
Bathurst, New Brunswick E2A 4T1
To find out more about your privacy rights, call the Office of the Privacy Commissioner of Canada toll-free at 1-800-282-1376, or write:
The Office of the Privacy Commissioner
112 Kent Street
Ottawa, ON K1A 1H3
This blog was completed, in part, by tips from The Office of the Privacy Commissioner and the Ministry of Small Business and Consumer Services –I encourage you to visit both Public Services websites and become an Informed Individual
