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What to do in the event that you’re identity gets stolen you ask?  It’s pretty easy to fall victim to identify theft and you’re not alone if it occurs to you.  Recent studies and reporting mechanisms have suggested that millions of Americans each and every year fall victim to the occurrence (almost ten million).  So you’re not alone.  There are several steps that you should take following the discovery of identity theft.

Sometimes you may not know how your personal information and data was compromised, sometimes it can be due to a wallet or purse being stolen, or otherwise it can be due to more technologically advanced methods such as having your data and information hacked online.  When you first realize that your personal information may be used for malicious purposes, take some deep breaths and implement any relaxing exercises that you know of.  It’s certainly a shock to realize that someone has access to your personal data and whether it’s been used or not for malicious intent is slightly irrelevant.  It’s enough to make you highly stressed and agitated. Read the rest of this entry »

New rules have been issued in the fight against identity theft.  These new rules and implementations are called the “Red Flag Rules” which have been created by The Federal Trade Commission, bank regulatory agencies and committees, and the National Credit Union Administration.  The purpose for the Red Flag Rules is so that banks implement proper frameworks and systems in order to deal with identity theft.  They aim to help deter identity theft by creating programs which help detect, prevent and mitigate identity theft scenarios.  The rules stipulate that the Red Flag implementations must have been in place since November 2008.

The Red Flags Rules apply to all financial institutions and credit union organizations.  A financial institution or organization is defined as a statewide or national based bank, a monetary association, a state or national credit union, or any other institute which can hold a bank or transactional account on behalf of a consumer.  A transaction account is an account in which a consumer can increase or decrease revenue by way of purchase, withdrawal or saving. Read the rest of this entry »

In today’s modern world there’s an increasing threat level associated with identity theft.  With newer technology being implemented and invented everyday, this rise has been due in many respects that that innovative technology. Criminals are using that smarter technology to increasingly break into bank accounts, credit card facilities and the like quicker and easier without going detected.  But what is identity theft actually?

Identity theft in short is the usage of other people’s sensitive information or data without the knowledge of the rightful owner to their own personal benefit.  This can occur in many forms.  From the stealing of credit cards and following that, their usage all the way to the stealing of login details for bank accounts that allow the person to access and transfer other people’s money.  Identity theft can cause millions of dollars to disappear in the blink of an eye, all the way through to the destruction of someone’s reputation. Read the rest of this entry »

If you find yourself in the horrible predicament of having your identity stolen there are a few immediate steps that you’ll need to take to ensure no further abuse of your personal data and finances can take place.  Over 10 million incidents of identity theft take place each year in the United States and this figure continues to grow each and every year.  This is due in part, to the internet and the increasingly clear use of technology as a way to financially communicate.  Most if not all of us have access to our bank account statements as well as our bills on the World Wide Web.  This has meant we are further exposed to hackers and thus having our accounts hacked.  With the increasing use of technology we don’t seem to have an increasing awareness of our personal data and information vulnerabilities.  This has meant we don’t take the appropriate steps to ensure the safety and privacy of our personal data.

The first step that you need to take in the event of identity theft is to contact local and federal law enforcement agencies.  Knowing what’s compromised is important but you may not know how much and sometimes, what of your personal information and data has been stolen.  You’ll need to check all our statements to ascertain how long the data has been used to make purchases or any other criminal activity.  I would immediately contact all financial institutions that you have dealings with and ask them to put a hold on the accounts.  Better yet, I would close down the accounts and open up new ones with new account numbers and relevant details. Read the rest of this entry »