Credit Card Help Center: Identity Theft

How to protect your information from being stolen.

Identity Theft is the fastest growing crime in the United States.

The facts are:

Over 27 million people have been victims of identity theft in the last five years.
16% of identity theft victims say that it was a friend, relative, or co-worker who stole their identity.
The average time spent by victims dealing with the theft of their identities is about 600 hours.
Half of all adults feel they do not know how to protect themselves against identity theft.
Children are increasingly becoming victims of identity theft.

Precautions To Protect Yourself From Identity Theft

Do not let anyone know your social security number. Do not carry your social security card with you. Kepp it in a safe place.
Sign your cards immediately after you receive them.
Buy a shredder, and shred al of your bank or credit card statements, and similar papers that have your personal or account information on them.
Check your credit reports continuously to see if there is any suspicious account activity.
If you are moving, order a mail-forwarding service, and do not let other people to receive your envelopes.
Stop paper statements. Most banks and credit card companies offer electronic statement service.
Do not use easy-to-predict passwords (such as your birth date or mother maiden name for online account access. Try to use a combination of words and letters. Do not use the same password everywhere.
Do not let others know about your personal or account information.

Notify the fraud departments of credit bureaus: Experian, TransUnion, and Equifax. Ask them to place a 'fraud alert' in your file.
Call your bank, credit card companies, and other companies you work with to see if there is any recent unusual activity. Ask the customer service to connect you to the the fraud/security department. If you happen to see any accounts with freudulent activities, close these accounts immediately.
File a police report.
Fill out an identity theft fraud affidavit. IT is also available online. You can also call Federal Trade Commission's Identity Theft Hotline at 1-877-IDTHEFT or 1-877-438-4338.