Having your information lost or stolen can be a frightening experience, and you may worry about how the information may be misused if it falls into the wrong hands. You might be in this situation if, for example, your wallet was stolen; you responded to a phishing email; or you were notified that a company experienced a data breach and lost some of your data. Fortunately, if your data may have been accessed without authorization, there are steps you can take to detect misuse that has already occurred and to help prevent potential future misuse.
Identity theft occurs when someone uses your personal information such as your name, Social Security number, credit card number or other identifying information, without your permission to commit fraud or other crimes.
Each year, millions of Americans have their identity stolen. Consumers whose identities have been stolen can spend years clearing up their good name and credit. The best way to help prevent becoming a victim of Identity Theft is to safeguard your personal information.
If you are a victim of identity theft, take the following four steps as soon as possible, and keep good records with the details of your conversations and copies of all correspondence.
Unfortunately, nothing can guarantee that you won’t become a victim of identity theft. There are however, ways you can minimize your risk, and minimize the damage if a problem develops, by making it more difficult for identity thieves to access your personal information.
Having your information lost or stolen can be a frightening experience, and you may worry about how the information may be misused if it falls into the wrong hands. You might be in this situation if, for example, your wallet was stolen; you responded to a phishing email; or you were notified that a company experienced a data breach and lost some of your data. Fortunately, if your data may have been accessed without authorization, there are steps you can take to detect misuse that has already occurred and to help prevent potential future misuse.
If you are a victim of identity theft, follow these steps to minimize the damage and protect your financial assets.
