Identity Theft

What is Identity Theft?
It is fraud perpetrated against unsuspecting victims where their personal information is used to obtain credit cards, bank loans, or personal banking funds.

How Does It Happen?
Personal information is obtained from information thrown out without being shredded, unscrupulous employees at businesses that have access to your personal information, public documents, and the internet.

What Should You Do If You Are A Victim?

• First, contact the fraud departments of each of the three major credit bureaus and request a “fraud alert”.
• Second, contact all of your creditors on any account that may have been tampered with to report the fraud.
• Third, file a police report in the community where the identity theft took place.
• Fourth, record all of your actions taken to resolve the matter and, send letters to all of your creditors involved.
• Fifth, contact the Federal Trade Commission at 1 877-438-4338 or www.consumer.gov/idtheft  to report the theft and obtain checklists for victims to follow.
• Lastly, request your credit report from the three major credit bureaus, victims of fraud are entitled to free credit reports.

Prevention Tips:

• Buy a shredder and use it to destroy all documents with personal information that are to be thrown out.
• Request your credit reports yearly to inspect them for suspicious activity.
• Safeguard your mail, and keep track of your billing cycles. Thieves will change addresses on your accounts and count on victims not noticing.

Credit Reporting Bureaus:

• Equifax, order report 800 685-1111, fraud 888 766-0008 or www.equifax.com
• Experian, order report 888 524-3606, fraud 888 397-3742 or www.experian.com
• Trans Union Corporation, order report 800 888-4213, fraud 800 680-7289 or www.tuc.com

Contact Us:
To receive additional information or to request a presentation regarding this, please contact Officer Scott Clark at 693-7931 or Officer Omar Brucal at 693-7900