Your Identity Belongs to You. Protect It!

The smartest way to protect yourself from identity theft is to prevent it from happening to you.. see (Phishing article).  However, if your identity is stolen, you’ll be able to lessen problems by acting quickly.

• Call your credit card companies immediately. Explain what happened, and ask where to send a copy of the police report.
• Call and report to the police. Make several copies of police report.
• Complete a Federal Trade Commission (FTC) Theft Affidavit and FTC report (call 1-887-ID-THEFT to request the forms).
• Call your bank. They can place an alert on your Driver’s License number and Social Security Number, and freeze your account.
• Call fraud units of credit report agencies: Experian, Equifax, and Trans-union.

Fortunately, identity theft protection is available as an endorsement on most homeowners’ policies at a small cost.