Identity Theft

500,000 – 700,000 victims per year (FBI Statistics)

What constitutes identity theft?

• Thieves opening bank/credit union accounts in your name
• Applications for housing, government benefits, utility services
• Access to existing accounts: credit cards, checking accounts, utility accounts, savings and investment accounts

How does identity theft occur?

• “Dumpster Diving”
• “Shoulder Surfing”
• At home — your mailbox and garbage cans
• At work — security breaches, unprotected employee files
• “Pretexting” — someone pretending to be you to obtain your private records or information
• Roommates and family members
• Group identity theft (businesses, government agencies and schools)
• Theft of computers/laptops

How you can stop identity theft!

• Do not disclose confidential information (bank account numbers, PIN numbers, SS#) to unknown telephone solicitors
• Personal information should be kept in a safe location — not left curbside!
• Shred/burn all discarded mail offers, including credit card solicitations
• Put your wallet on a “diet”
• Avoid disclosing your Social Security number (financial and government services being the exceptions)

The proactive approach #1 — Your credit report

• Free booklet (handout) — Credit Bureaus and Credit Reports
• Order a free report online from www.annualcreditreport.com
• “Fraud alerts” and “file freezes”

Method #2 — Reduce your incoming mail

• Call: 1-888-5 OPTOUT (Eliminate credit card offers)
• Write: Direct Marketing Association, P.O. Box 643 Carmel, NY 10512 (Most mail solicitations will stop) Include your name, address and phone number in your signed letter.

Method #3 – Reduce telemarketing calls

• Federal Trade Commission’s National Do Not Call Registry 1-888-382-1222 www.DONOTCALL.GOV

If you are a victim

• Contact your/the financial institution/utility/etc.
• File a report with the local police
• Call the Federal Trade Commission’s ID Theft Hotline 1-877-438-4338
• If through the mail, speak with the U.S. Postal Inspectors 1-800-372-8347
• If the case involves a bank or credit union, call the Maine Bureau of Financial Institutions at 1-800-965-5235
• When your credit report has been adversely affected, call the Maine Bureau of Consumer Credit Protection at 1-800-332-8529

The Fundamentals of Protecting Your Financial “Health”

• Destroy all unutilized mail offers
• Shred/burn, don’t dump personal identity information
• Order your credit reports once a year
• Never provide personal financial information to unknown: U.S. Mail, Internet or telephone solicitors.
• Always ask for “tissue” copies of carbonized credit/debit card receipts
• Check with a government agency before committing to a new financial transaction — unsolicited investment products, unknown loan company or financial institution, or charity.
• If it sounds too good to be true, it probably is!

Courtesy of State of Maine Consumer Credit Protection