This document provides a 10 step guide for victims of identity fraud to recover their identity. It discusses normal feelings victims may experience and emphasizes the importance of taking responsibility and action for recovery. The steps include gathering composure, starting a journal, filing a police report, taking immediate action to close fraudulent accounts, obtaining credit reports, considering credit monitoring, continuing to take action as needed fraud is discovered, assessing risk, reducing future risk, and eventually relaxing once the issues are addressed and monitoring is in place. It also addresses common questions around credit freezes, fraud alerts, and identity recovery services.
December is Identity Theft Prevention and Awareness Month - Identity theft is a serious crime. This is the month to educate yourself on how to prevent identity theft. Join us for an important webinar with staff members from the SC Department of Consumer Affairs on how to prevent ID theft and know what to do if it happens to you. Open to library staff, state government employees, general public.
A psychological approah in "credit card fraud risk management"Sameh Hassan
The presentation provides not only a coherent description of the process of credit card fraud risk management and why it is important in today business
but also presents a psychological approach inspired by the content creator to be applied in such process for better understanding of biases that could lead to undesired misjudgements.
Today we all live and work in the Internet Century, where technology is roiling the business landscape, and the pace of change is only accelerating.
In their new book How Google Works, Google Executive Chairman and ex-CEO Eric Schmidt and former SVP of Products Jonathan Rosenberg share the lessons they learned over the course of a decade running Google.
Covering topics including corporate culture, strategy, talent, decision-making, communication, innovation, and dealing with disruption, the authors illustrate management maxims with numerous insider anecdotes from Google’s history.
In an era when everything is speeding up, the best way for businesses to succeed is to attract smart-creative people and give them an environment where they can thrive at scale. How Google Works is a new book that explains how to do just that.
This is a visual preview of How Google Works. You can pick up a copy of the book at www.howgoogleworks.net
6
If you know who stole your identity, you should still follow the same steps as if you did not know the identity thief:
1. File a report with your local police department and get a copy of the police report.
2. Contact the Federal Trade Commission to report the identity theft.
3. Place a fraud alert on your credit reports and get copies of your credit reports to review for any suspicious activity.
4. Contact any creditors or companies where new accounts or charges may have been made in your name to report the fraudulent activity and close or dispute accounts.
In addition to these steps, you should also consider taking legal action against the identity thief such as filing a
December is Identity Theft Prevention and Awareness Month - Identity theft is a serious crime. This is the month to educate yourself on how to prevent identity theft. Join us for an important webinar with staff members from the SC Department of Consumer Affairs on how to prevent ID theft and know what to do if it happens to you. Open to library staff, state government employees, general public.
A psychological approah in "credit card fraud risk management"Sameh Hassan
The presentation provides not only a coherent description of the process of credit card fraud risk management and why it is important in today business
but also presents a psychological approach inspired by the content creator to be applied in such process for better understanding of biases that could lead to undesired misjudgements.
Today we all live and work in the Internet Century, where technology is roiling the business landscape, and the pace of change is only accelerating.
In their new book How Google Works, Google Executive Chairman and ex-CEO Eric Schmidt and former SVP of Products Jonathan Rosenberg share the lessons they learned over the course of a decade running Google.
Covering topics including corporate culture, strategy, talent, decision-making, communication, innovation, and dealing with disruption, the authors illustrate management maxims with numerous insider anecdotes from Google’s history.
In an era when everything is speeding up, the best way for businesses to succeed is to attract smart-creative people and give them an environment where they can thrive at scale. How Google Works is a new book that explains how to do just that.
This is a visual preview of How Google Works. You can pick up a copy of the book at www.howgoogleworks.net
6
If you know who stole your identity, you should still follow the same steps as if you did not know the identity thief:
1. File a report with your local police department and get a copy of the police report.
2. Contact the Federal Trade Commission to report the identity theft.
3. Place a fraud alert on your credit reports and get copies of your credit reports to review for any suspicious activity.
4. Contact any creditors or companies where new accounts or charges may have been made in your name to report the fraudulent activity and close or dispute accounts.
In addition to these steps, you should also consider taking legal action against the identity thief such as filing a
Preventing Nonprofit Banking Fraud and the Tools You Can Use!tomciolkosz
This document discusses preventing nonprofit banking fraud and tools organizations can use. It begins by highlighting recent headlines of fraud cases at nonprofits. It then discusses the fraud triangle and importance of internal controls. It provides tips for protecting the online environment such as using two-factor authentication and educating employees. The document also covers different types of banking fraud like check fraud, ACH fraud, and credit card fraud. It emphasizes the importance of controls like positive pay, bank reconciliation, and understanding responsibilities under Regulation E. Finally, it provides resources for further learning.
This document discusses preventing nonprofit banking fraud and tools organizations can use. It begins by highlighting recent headlines of fraud cases at nonprofits. It then discusses the fraud triangle and importance of internal controls. It provides tips for protecting the online environment such as using two-factor authentication and educating employees. The document also covers different types of banking fraud like check fraud, ACH fraud, and credit card fraud. It emphasizes the importance of controls like positive pay, bank reconciliation, and understanding responsibilities under Regulation E. Finally, it provides resources for further learning.
1) Identity theft is on the rise as criminals steal personal information like SINs, credit cards, and health records to impersonate victims.
2) To reduce risk, monitor credit reports annually and statements regularly for fraudulent activity. Dispute any incorrect information with credit bureaus.
3) Safeguard personal information by shredding documents, creating strong passwords, limiting what you carry, and being wary of phone/email scams. Act quickly if identity theft is suspected.
This document provides information about an identity theft protection plan membership. It covers who is included in the membership, defines identity theft and how thieves obtain personal information, how thieves use stolen information, and what to do if someone becomes a victim of identity theft. The membership provides credit reports and monitoring, credit scores, continuous credit monitoring alerts, identity theft consultation services, and restoration services to help victims recover from identity theft. It also provides tips for monitoring other personal information like Social Security records.
Tips On How You Can Go From A Negative Credit Rating To A Positive Credit Rat...The Credit Redeemer
If you’ve ever wondered how credit repair companies can be so effective at improving your credit rating, you’re probably asking yourself what exactly the top credit repair companies are doing behind the scenes that you aren’t. Fortunately, there are plenty of helpful tips on how to improve your credit score available on the Internet that will tell you exactly what these companies do. You just have to find them!
Website - https://thecreditredeemer.com/
Accountants, Erick Cutler and Jerry Murray, from the Dallas firm Goldin Peiser & Peiser, LLP spoke at the Arlington Dental Study Club November 17th. on the topic of fraud and embezzlement in dental practices. The purpose of the presentation was to raise dentists' awareness of fraud and provide information and ideas the attendees could take back to their practices. Contact Goldin Peiser & Peiser, LLP for more information or visit www.gppcpa.com.
The LegalShield Identity Theft Plan provides identity theft protection and restoration services to help prevent identity theft and resolve issues if it occurs. The plan covers the member, spouse, and up to 8 dependents under 18. It includes credit monitoring and reports, identity consultation services, and assistance from Kroll to handle the restoration process for victims of identity theft by placing fraud alerts and disputing fraudulent accounts. If signing a limited power of attorney, Kroll will fully manage the restoration process; otherwise they will assist the member in taking actions themselves. The plan aims to resolve common identity theft issues like fraudulent accounts and records.
Identity Theft: Protecting & Restoring Your Good NameSpringboard
The document discusses identity theft, including how it occurs, prevention tips, and steps to take if you become a victim. It summarizes Springboard's services for credit counseling and financial education. Identity theft has been rising, with over 11 million Americans affected in 2009. The document provides tips to prevent identity theft and outlines actions victims should take, such as placing fraud alerts and filing reports.
The document provides tips on fraud prevention and survival, emphasizing the importance of being cautious when providing personal information and dealing with companies. It advises consumers to ask questions about how and why information is needed and to verify credentials before trusting individuals or businesses. The summary also introduces Pennock Consulting Group and their expertise in fraud examination and prevention.
An identity thief may have accessed and used a victim's personal or financial information without permission. The guide outlines immediate steps the victim should take, such as placing a fraud alert on their credit report and ordering copies of their credit reports from the three major credit bureaus. It also provides guidance on next steps like reviewing credit reports for errors, disputing inaccuracies directly with the credit bureaus and affected businesses, and filing an identity theft report with the FTC and local law enforcement. Long-term steps include considering a credit freeze and extended fraud alert to further protect the victim's identity and credit standing. The guide offers worksheets, sample letters, and contact information to help victims methodically recover from identity theft.
This document provides information about identity theft and resources to help organizations combat it. It includes a toolkit with materials to plan and host a Protect Your Identity Day event, which aims to raise awareness about identity theft prevention. The toolkit contains sample materials like speeches, presentations, and media templates that can be customized. It also details steps organizations can take to partner with media and plan successful awareness events, including reaching out to media, partners, and the public and providing educational information about how to deter, detect, and defend against identity theft.
For the uninitiated, credit restoration refers to the process of improving one’s credit scores after something like bankruptcy or foreclosure has caused them to plummet into the less-than-stellar territory. Unfortunately, it can be difficult to get quality information about credit restoration from reliable sources due to misleading information and bad advice from companies that make money off of selling expensive credit restoration services. Today we’re going to look at some of the most common myths about credit restoration and explain why they just don’t hold water.
Website - https://whatcomcreditrestoration.com/
The document provides tips on how to safeguard against identity theft and what to do if you become a victim. It advises that if you are notified that your identity has been stolen, verify the reliability of the notification before responding. It then recommends contacting consumer protection agencies like the FTC and agencies in your state for help with identity theft resolution. The document also offers tips to minimize risk of identity theft such as being cautious online, checking your risk level on free websites, vetting tax preparers for honesty, and being wary of IRS impostors.
“Nearly half of all victim organizations do not recover any losses that they suffer due to fraud” according to the 2012 Report to the Nations presented by the Association of Certified Fraud Examiners. Although, there are no statistics that report the total number of entities and the amount defrauded, regardless of size, any organization can become a victim of fraud. Kyle Anne Midkiff’s white paper, Act Now Before it’s Too Late, provides five important steps to help organizations of any size prevent fraud.
The document discusses identity theft, including how to protect yourself from identity theft and what to do if you become a victim. Some key points:
- Identity theft is a growing problem, affecting over 12% of people in a 2002 survey.
- To protect yourself, shred documents with personal information before throwing them out, use a locked mailbox, and regularly check your credit reports.
- If you become a victim, promptly report the fraud to law enforcement and credit bureaus, place a fraud alert and security freeze on your credit reports, and file an identity theft affidavit.
- Useful resources for information and assistance with identity theft include the Privacy Rights Clearinghouse, Identity Theft Resource Center, and your state Attorney General
The document discusses identity theft and provides tips to protect personal information. It notes that identity theft affects millions of people each year. The document outlines steps to take if identity theft occurs, including filing a report with law enforcement and credit bureaus, and placing a fraud alert or security freeze on credit reports. Useful resources for information on identity theft are also presented, such as the Privacy Rights Clearinghouse, Identity Theft Resource Center, and AnnualCreditReport.com for free credit checks.
The document discusses the progression of Islamic art over time. It begins by outlining the three basic components of traditional Islamic art: calligraphy, geometric patterns, and floral motifs. It then explains that figural imagery was prohibited in Islamic art due to religious restrictions. During the medieval period, miniature illustrations began to emerge alongside text in manuscripts, acting as secondary imitations of the written words. Overall, the document traces how Islamic art has developed while adhering to its theological limitations on representation.
More Related Content
Similar to Reclaiming Your Identity: 10 Steps To Recovery
Preventing Nonprofit Banking Fraud and the Tools You Can Use!tomciolkosz
This document discusses preventing nonprofit banking fraud and tools organizations can use. It begins by highlighting recent headlines of fraud cases at nonprofits. It then discusses the fraud triangle and importance of internal controls. It provides tips for protecting the online environment such as using two-factor authentication and educating employees. The document also covers different types of banking fraud like check fraud, ACH fraud, and credit card fraud. It emphasizes the importance of controls like positive pay, bank reconciliation, and understanding responsibilities under Regulation E. Finally, it provides resources for further learning.
This document discusses preventing nonprofit banking fraud and tools organizations can use. It begins by highlighting recent headlines of fraud cases at nonprofits. It then discusses the fraud triangle and importance of internal controls. It provides tips for protecting the online environment such as using two-factor authentication and educating employees. The document also covers different types of banking fraud like check fraud, ACH fraud, and credit card fraud. It emphasizes the importance of controls like positive pay, bank reconciliation, and understanding responsibilities under Regulation E. Finally, it provides resources for further learning.
1) Identity theft is on the rise as criminals steal personal information like SINs, credit cards, and health records to impersonate victims.
2) To reduce risk, monitor credit reports annually and statements regularly for fraudulent activity. Dispute any incorrect information with credit bureaus.
3) Safeguard personal information by shredding documents, creating strong passwords, limiting what you carry, and being wary of phone/email scams. Act quickly if identity theft is suspected.
This document provides information about an identity theft protection plan membership. It covers who is included in the membership, defines identity theft and how thieves obtain personal information, how thieves use stolen information, and what to do if someone becomes a victim of identity theft. The membership provides credit reports and monitoring, credit scores, continuous credit monitoring alerts, identity theft consultation services, and restoration services to help victims recover from identity theft. It also provides tips for monitoring other personal information like Social Security records.
Tips On How You Can Go From A Negative Credit Rating To A Positive Credit Rat...The Credit Redeemer
If you’ve ever wondered how credit repair companies can be so effective at improving your credit rating, you’re probably asking yourself what exactly the top credit repair companies are doing behind the scenes that you aren’t. Fortunately, there are plenty of helpful tips on how to improve your credit score available on the Internet that will tell you exactly what these companies do. You just have to find them!
Website - https://thecreditredeemer.com/
Accountants, Erick Cutler and Jerry Murray, from the Dallas firm Goldin Peiser & Peiser, LLP spoke at the Arlington Dental Study Club November 17th. on the topic of fraud and embezzlement in dental practices. The purpose of the presentation was to raise dentists' awareness of fraud and provide information and ideas the attendees could take back to their practices. Contact Goldin Peiser & Peiser, LLP for more information or visit www.gppcpa.com.
The LegalShield Identity Theft Plan provides identity theft protection and restoration services to help prevent identity theft and resolve issues if it occurs. The plan covers the member, spouse, and up to 8 dependents under 18. It includes credit monitoring and reports, identity consultation services, and assistance from Kroll to handle the restoration process for victims of identity theft by placing fraud alerts and disputing fraudulent accounts. If signing a limited power of attorney, Kroll will fully manage the restoration process; otherwise they will assist the member in taking actions themselves. The plan aims to resolve common identity theft issues like fraudulent accounts and records.
Identity Theft: Protecting & Restoring Your Good NameSpringboard
The document discusses identity theft, including how it occurs, prevention tips, and steps to take if you become a victim. It summarizes Springboard's services for credit counseling and financial education. Identity theft has been rising, with over 11 million Americans affected in 2009. The document provides tips to prevent identity theft and outlines actions victims should take, such as placing fraud alerts and filing reports.
The document provides tips on fraud prevention and survival, emphasizing the importance of being cautious when providing personal information and dealing with companies. It advises consumers to ask questions about how and why information is needed and to verify credentials before trusting individuals or businesses. The summary also introduces Pennock Consulting Group and their expertise in fraud examination and prevention.
An identity thief may have accessed and used a victim's personal or financial information without permission. The guide outlines immediate steps the victim should take, such as placing a fraud alert on their credit report and ordering copies of their credit reports from the three major credit bureaus. It also provides guidance on next steps like reviewing credit reports for errors, disputing inaccuracies directly with the credit bureaus and affected businesses, and filing an identity theft report with the FTC and local law enforcement. Long-term steps include considering a credit freeze and extended fraud alert to further protect the victim's identity and credit standing. The guide offers worksheets, sample letters, and contact information to help victims methodically recover from identity theft.
This document provides information about identity theft and resources to help organizations combat it. It includes a toolkit with materials to plan and host a Protect Your Identity Day event, which aims to raise awareness about identity theft prevention. The toolkit contains sample materials like speeches, presentations, and media templates that can be customized. It also details steps organizations can take to partner with media and plan successful awareness events, including reaching out to media, partners, and the public and providing educational information about how to deter, detect, and defend against identity theft.
For the uninitiated, credit restoration refers to the process of improving one’s credit scores after something like bankruptcy or foreclosure has caused them to plummet into the less-than-stellar territory. Unfortunately, it can be difficult to get quality information about credit restoration from reliable sources due to misleading information and bad advice from companies that make money off of selling expensive credit restoration services. Today we’re going to look at some of the most common myths about credit restoration and explain why they just don’t hold water.
Website - https://whatcomcreditrestoration.com/
The document provides tips on how to safeguard against identity theft and what to do if you become a victim. It advises that if you are notified that your identity has been stolen, verify the reliability of the notification before responding. It then recommends contacting consumer protection agencies like the FTC and agencies in your state for help with identity theft resolution. The document also offers tips to minimize risk of identity theft such as being cautious online, checking your risk level on free websites, vetting tax preparers for honesty, and being wary of IRS impostors.
“Nearly half of all victim organizations do not recover any losses that they suffer due to fraud” according to the 2012 Report to the Nations presented by the Association of Certified Fraud Examiners. Although, there are no statistics that report the total number of entities and the amount defrauded, regardless of size, any organization can become a victim of fraud. Kyle Anne Midkiff’s white paper, Act Now Before it’s Too Late, provides five important steps to help organizations of any size prevent fraud.
The document discusses identity theft, including how to protect yourself from identity theft and what to do if you become a victim. Some key points:
- Identity theft is a growing problem, affecting over 12% of people in a 2002 survey.
- To protect yourself, shred documents with personal information before throwing them out, use a locked mailbox, and regularly check your credit reports.
- If you become a victim, promptly report the fraud to law enforcement and credit bureaus, place a fraud alert and security freeze on your credit reports, and file an identity theft affidavit.
- Useful resources for information and assistance with identity theft include the Privacy Rights Clearinghouse, Identity Theft Resource Center, and your state Attorney General
The document discusses identity theft and provides tips to protect personal information. It notes that identity theft affects millions of people each year. The document outlines steps to take if identity theft occurs, including filing a report with law enforcement and credit bureaus, and placing a fraud alert or security freeze on credit reports. Useful resources for information on identity theft are also presented, such as the Privacy Rights Clearinghouse, Identity Theft Resource Center, and AnnualCreditReport.com for free credit checks.
The document discusses the progression of Islamic art over time. It begins by outlining the three basic components of traditional Islamic art: calligraphy, geometric patterns, and floral motifs. It then explains that figural imagery was prohibited in Islamic art due to religious restrictions. During the medieval period, miniature illustrations began to emerge alongside text in manuscripts, acting as secondary imitations of the written words. Overall, the document traces how Islamic art has developed while adhering to its theological limitations on representation.
Similar to Reclaiming Your Identity: 10 Steps To Recovery (20)
1. Risk Resources Group
Copyright 2011. All Rights Reserved
Reclaiming Your Identity…
10 Steps to Fraud Recovery
Jon McDowall, CFE, PCI, CIFI
President and CEO
Risk Resources Group
2. You’re Not Alone
• Each year, several million people fall victim to identity fraud.
• The perpetrator(s) may be someone known to you or someone
thousands of miles away in another country.
• You may never know who is responsible for your victimization.
• It’s normal to feel violated, betrayed, frustrated and alone.
• You have to take responsibility for your recovery.
• This guide contains specific suggestions and steps you should
consider in order to gain control of the situation.
3. Step 1: Catch Your Breath
Gather your composure and resolve to take back control of your
identity.
Honestly, things may get worse before they get better. The process
of discovering that you’re a victim of identity fraud can be a bumpy
ride but take heart – you’re taking steps right now to stop this ride.
It’s important that you determine the extent of the problem, address
the issues you’ve identified and take steps to minimize future
problems.
You can and need to take this challenge on. Doing nothing will only
compound your current problems.
Okay, take a deep breath and let’s press on…
4. Step 2: Start a Journal
Starting now, get a notebook, start a journal or open a Word document
and start documenting the following:
• Your understanding of the issues you’ve identified
• Any thoughts regarding the suspected source(s) of your victimization
• Specific steps you’ve taken
• Notes of discussions with persons you’ve contacted (include details
with dates, times, names, phone numbers and identifiers of those
contacted)
• Follow-up actions you need to take and when you need to take them
5. Step 3: File a Police Report
Once you’re convinced that you are, indeed, a victim of identity fraud,
one of the most important steps you’ll need to take is getting an incident
report number.
Unfortunately, this is a topic about which much confusion abounds –
even among law enforcement.
According to the Federal Trade Commission, a victim of identity fraud is
a victim where he or she lives. You should contact your local law
enforcement entity for this incident report.
Insist on getting an incident report, even if the representative tries to
steer you elsewhere. If need be, assure them that you don’t
necessarily expect that they’ll conduct an investigation. *
* A small percentage of identity fraud cases are actually investigated by law enforcement.
6. Step 4: Take Immediate Action
Once you’ve gotten an incident report number (or sooner, if you’re
having trouble getting this), you’ll need to begin addressing the fraud
issues you’ve already uncovered.
Contact all appropriate entities to notify them of the problem and to
close accounts, re-issue cards, etc.
This may include creditors, financial institutions and/or issuers of
driver’s licenses, passports or other documents, if they’ve been lost
or stolen.
As you make contact with entities and individuals, be sure to utilize
your journal to document the discussion and actions to be taken by
either party, as well as contact phone numbers and identifying
information of those with whom you’ve spoken.
7. Step 5: Get Your Credit Report
It’s very important to determine the extent of the problem to the best of your
ability. Because over a year passes before the average identity fraud victim
becomes aware that a problem exists, there’s no way to initially know how
limited or extensive the problem is.
One of the most important steps you can take is to obtain a copy of your credit
report from each of the three credit bureaus. By law, you may do this for free
once a year. You can do this one of three ways:
• www.annualcreditreport.com
• 1-877-322-8228
• Annual Credit Report Request Service
P.O. Box 105281
Atlanta, GA 30348-5281
* Please don’t request your credit report via computer if you suspect a virus, trojan or hack.
8. Step 6: Consider Credit Monitoring
Because identity fraud can re-visit its victims over months or years,
it’s important to consider enrolling in a credit monitoring service.
Credit monitoring will allow you to remain passively vigilant – you
can remain on guard while allowing yourself to relax a little
because you’ll be quickly notified if anyone applies for credit in
your name.
It’s recommended that you patronize one of the three major credit
bureaus or, if you’d prefer, you can get monitoring of all three
bureaus’ reports related to you.
Research the products carefully and make a determination
whether you need all of the offered services. In many cases, the
basic monitoring will suffice without a lot of bells and whistles.
9. Step 7: Take Action as Needed
Once you’ve gotten your credit reports, review them and identify any
entries that you’re unsure about. Research them and take action if
accounts need to be shut down.
As you did when you first learned that you had a problem, you’ll
need to contact all appropriate entities to notify them of the problem
and to close accounts, re-issue cards, etc.
Remember to be sure to utilize your journal to document the
discussion, action plans, contact phone numbers and identifying
information of those with whom you’ve spoken.
You may need to take this sort of action at various times through the
discovery and recovery process. Stay resolute and strong. You can
and need to do this whenever new discoveries are made.
10. Step 8: Assess Your Risk
Assessing your ongoing identity fraud risk is an important step in recovery and
prevention against future problems.
As you assess your risk, you’ll want to consider the following, among other
things:
• What you’ve learned about know about your first victimization
• Your computer usage, knowledge, skills and protection
• Your practices regarding protecting your personally identifying information
(PII). Relatives, acquaintances, garbage, mail, credit card offers and your
computer usage and protection should be considered.
Once victimized, you run an increased risk of future issues. Stay Vigilant.
11. Step 9: Reduce Your Risk
It’s normal and good to be more protective of your personally identifying
information (PII) after an incident of identity fraud.
Don’t be quick to give out your phone number, account information or PII.
Got a shredder? Get one and use it! Shred anything of a sensitive nature.
Get unsolicited credit card offers? Consider calling 1.888.OPT OUT
(1.888.382.1222) to stop these offers.
Is your computer protected properly? Update anti-virus and anti-spyware and use
extreme caution when browsing. Don’t click on links, pictures or attachments from
unknown senders.
* This is by no means a comprehensive list and is intended to get you started as you think about your risks. Use common
sense to determine and reduce your individual risk.
12. Step 10: RELAX!
Once you’ve dealt with the problems you’ve become aware of and
have set yourself up through credit monitoring to be notified of future
problems, you can go into passive vigilance mode.
You can be passive because you’ll be notified if a problem surfaces
again. You’ll need to remain vigilant because identity fraud can re-
visit its victims, potentially multiple times over several years.
There are sure to be lessons to be learned from your experiences.
Put practices into place to reduce your identity fraud risk and
consider telling others about what you’ve learned. Perhaps they
can learn from you what you had to learn from experience.
If you found this e-book helpful, please tell us: assistance(at)riskresourcesgroup.com
13. FAQ
Q: I’ve been told that I should freeze my credit. Is this true?
A: I would not recommend a credit freeze unless you’re in the throws of ongoing
frauds being perpetrated in your name and you seem unable to gain control.
Credit freezes are subject to various states’ laws, can cost you money to file and
can seriously hamper your own ability to get credit, if needed.
Q: Should I should place a “fraud alert” in my credit file?
A: If you find that you continue to be re-visited by identity fraud, you may want to
place a fraud alert in your file. This is done by contacting the three credit
bureaus; Equifax, Experian and Trans Union. In effect, you can write a brief
note to prospective creditors advising that you’ve been a victim of identity fraud
and asking them to take specific steps before extending credit (ask for a
password, call a number, ask for ID, etc.)
14. FAQ
Q: Should I sign up for an identity fraud recovery service?
A: This is a matter of personal preference. As is the case with credit monitoring
services, research the services being offered to you. In my opinion, your best
and fastest course to recovery involves your direct involvement in that recovery.
Even if you sign a Power of Attorney so that someone else can help you, I
recommend that you stay engaged. You have too much at stake to become
complacent.
Q: I’ve been told to apply for a different Social Security number because of my
identity fraud. What do you think?
A: In a word, NO. This may seem like an easy answer to your identity fraud
problem but will not resolve your issues and may actually create others.
Unfortunately, there is no quick fix to identity fraud recovery.
15. Additional Resources
Federal Trade Commission’s Deter Detect Defend Program:
http://www.ftc.gov/bcp/edu/microsites/idtheft/consumers/index.html
On Guard Online Program:
http://www.onguardonline.gov/
InfraGard Awareness Program:
http://www.infragardawareness.com
16. About the Author
Jon McDowall, CFE, PCI, CIFI, CII, CPI
Managing Partner
Risk Resources Group
866.355.3866
Jon has been conducting fraud investigations for over 23 years. In that time, he’s
successfully concluded thousands of investigations. He is a court-recognized
expert regarding identity frauds and has been providing victim assistance and
advice, often on a pro-bono basis, for several years.
He is a founding member of the Center for Information Security Awareness and
twice served as the chair of the ASIS International Economic Crime Council. He is
the recipient of the Outstanding Achievement in Anti-Fraud Awareness award,
given by the Association of Certified Fraud Examiners.
You may send your questions or comments to:
assistance(at)riskresourcesgroup.com
17. Disclaimer & Notice
Notice:
This identity fraud e-book is designed to provide suggested practices for determining the extent
of an individual’s identity fraud victimization and initiating steps to recovery. This guide is
provided as a free service. Because every identity fraud situation is unique, this guide cannot
address all possible circumstances. Therefore, the author and Risk Resources Group / Fraud
Resource Group, LLC accept no liability for the content of this guide, or for consequences of any
actions or inactions taken on the basis of the provided information.
Individuals who suspect that they are victims of identity fraud are granted license to use this
guide on an as-is basis.
This e-book is copyright protected and may not be copied, replicated or distributed, in whole or in
part, without the express written consent of the author.
Copyright 2011. Risk Resources Group / Fraud Resource Group, LLC. All rights reserved.