Fight Back! How to attack identity theft step-by-step!

Posted on March 02, 2015 by Ari Gold, One of Thousands of Money and Finance Coaches on Noomii.

Written by: Ari Gold, Personal Finance Coach for film and television industry employees.
2/10/2015

Every time we blink another company is reporting that their system has been hacked and sensitive information like names, birth dates, social security numbers and credit card information has been compromised.

If you work in the entertainment industry you are well aware of the attack at Sony Pictures last November and probably have been paying attention to fallout that has ensued. What you might not have heard of yet is that on Feb. 5th Anthem Inc. the company that provides health insurance coverage to the majority of IATSE members reported that their database had been hacked and over 80 million people may have had their personal information stolen.

Like me, you are probably thinking “What the $%#@%! First Target, then Home Depot, then Neiman Marcus, then Sony and now Anthem. How the heck are we supposed to keep our information secure if the mutli-million dollar companies can’t even do it?!?”

The truth is, your information can make its way into the wrong hands without the large scale data breaches so it’s important to protect yourself at all times. It happened to me, and well before my information was potentially leaked through Sony and now Anthem.

Recently, I fell off the wagon. I failed to practice what I preach to my clients which landed me in what could have been a very sticky situation. I am constantly reminding my clients to take advantage of their free annual credit report from each of the 3 credit bureaus, Experian, TransUnion, and Equifax. The best way to do it is by accessing one of them every 4 months to keep a continuous eye on any new activity that shows up, be it credit score inquiries, new accounts etc. (Checking your reports can be done for FREE by visiting annualcreditreport.com, no credit card required.) Unfortunately like everyone else I got busy with life and forgot to check my credit report at the 8 month mark last year. I finally remembered to check it at the end of January which left an 8 month gap between credit checks. Well, in that short gap my personal information (full name, date of birth and social security number) ended up in the wrong hands and two payday loans were taken out in my name and since the criminal had no intention of paying them back, they had gone into default.

If you are not familiar with payday loans they are basically high interest rate, short term loans for dollar amounts mostly under $1000.00 and usually around $500.00. However, some short term loan companies are now offering loans upwards of $2500.00 -$25,000.00. In theory, people use these short term loans as a way to pay their bills or fix their car until they get their next paycheck since they often have a low income or terrible credit and don’t qualify for a credit card. What came as a surprise to me was that you can now apply for payday loans online and guess what, all you need is a name, a birthdate and a social security number along with a made up address and a bank account where the payday loan company can deposit your new loan funds. No photo ID necessary, which is awfully convenient for the criminals out there.

Had I stayed on top of checking my credit reports I would have seen a credit inquiry from a company called Speedy Cash back in September. At that point I could have called them and let them know that I had not authorized that credit check and likely have been able to stop the fraud before it started. I would have also been able to immediately file a fraud alert on my credit report which would have stopped the crook from taking out the second loan. Ah, hindsight…

Even though 4 months has passed since the loans were opened, I am very lucky that I caught this when I did, and even luckier that the damage was only about $1500.00. One loan company said that the account was about to be sent to collections which would have severely impacted my credit score. Thankfully, I was able to prove that both loans were fraudulent and I was able to have them removed from my responsibility just in the nick of time. Once something goes into collections it becomes a giant pain in the butt to get it removed in addition to the not so nice calls you will likely get from collections representatives who don’t care about your innocence.

So how do you protect yourself from becoming a victim like me?

-Get into the routine of visiting annualcreditreport.com every 4 months to download one of your credit reports. Set a reminder on your calendar if you need to! Contrary to popular belief, it does not hurt your credit score to check your own credit!
-If your credit card offers you access to your credit score for free take advantage of this service. If not, you can access your FICO score for free at credit.com. If your FICO score drops all of a sudden something fishy may be going on. Use it as a warning to take action.
-If you don’t trust yourself to stay on top of these things consider signing up for identity protection/credit monitoring services. There are many options out there like LifeLock, Experian Credit Monitering Services, Identity Guard etc. Choose one that fits your budget and your needs. After a large security breach the affected company will likely offer a year free credit monitoring. Home Depot, Target and Sony have all offered this to their customers and you can bet Anthem will follow suit. Be sure to take advantage of this service!
-Keep close eyes on your personal information. Do not keep your social security card in your wallet along with your drivers’ license. Use your passport when someone needs a copy of your ID since it doesn’t have your address info or social security number on it. If you feel uncomfortable about putting your social on a form leave it blank. If the company really needs it, they will reach out to you.

What do you do if you are the victim of fraudulent activity or identity theft?

-Immediately place a 3 month fraud alert on your credit reports. Just go to any of the three credit bureau websites, Equifax, Transunion or Experian to file the report. The bureaus talk to each other and if you submit a fraud alert with one they will convey the alert to the other two bureaus for you. It never hurts to follow up and make sure that the fraud alert is completed with each bureau.
-Collect information about the crime. The company, the date, the amount etc. When you allege that a charge (or a loan in my case) is fraudulent, the company should provide you with a letter or email acknowledging that they are aware that you believe this is a fraudulent charge. This letter/email should be enough for you to file a police report.
-Fill out the Identity Theft Victim’s Complaint and Affidavit Form which can be found online on the FTC (Federal Trade Commission) website or it may even be emailed to you by the company (loan, credit card etc) where the crime was committed. Or, you can fill out the online version of the form found on the FTC website and print the final report to take with you to the police station.
-File a police report. Head to your local police station. An officer will begin the preliminary report and usually within 24 hours you will be issued a police report number. You can order a detailed copy of the police report usually for a small fee.
- You can continue to place a 3 month fraud alert on your credit reports indefinitely or you can file for a 7 year fraud alert. This extension must be done with each of the three bureaus, and done in writing. (Forms are available on each website.) When you place an extended alert you will now be able to get 2 free credit reports every 12 months from each of the credit reporting companies, and the credit reporting companies must take your name off marketing lists for prescreened credit offers for 5 years, unless you ask them to put your name back on the list. You will need to provide a copy of the police report, your FTC identity theft affidavit or report (see above), a utility bill for address verification, and a W-2, pay stub or copy of your social security number for verification. It’s a good idea to mail this information via ups, fed-ex or certified mail to make sure it doesn’t end up in the wrong hands.

Every minute about 19 people fall victim to identity theft. It takes the average victim an estimated $500 and 30 hours to resolve each identity theft crime. You can never be too careful, but you can be prepared!

If only cyber criminals redirected the time, energy and creativity they spend trying to steal money from hard working folks like you and me, and shifted it towards curing cancer or solving the energy crisis, I guarantee you that not only would they be very rich but we would also live in a cancer free society. Here’s to trying to stay one step ahead of the game!