We’ve all heard horror stories regarding someone using your name, address, and social security number. We suggest the following guidelines if you should lose your wallet or purse to help alleviate the chances that a thief will use your information for their own personal gain:
Immediately report the loss to your credit card companies, your banking facilities and to the police department where the loss has occurred.
It also may be a good idea to call the national credit reporting organizations to place a fraud alert on your name and social security number. This alert means any company that checks your credit knows your information was stolen and will contact you by phone to authorize new credit.
It takes no time at all for a thief to completely damage your credit by accessing companies over the internet or via phone calls with your personal history.
Identity Theft | Consumer Advice (ftc.gov) (Federal Trade Commission website to file various forms of ID theft and scams
https://www.treasury.gov/tigta/contact_report_scam.shtml (IRS scam link)
https://www.ic3.gov/default.aspx (FBI Internet Crime Complaint Center)
Phone numbers for credit reporting agencies & social security:
Equifax: 1-800-525-6285
Trans Union: 1-800-680-7289
Experian (formerly TRW): 1-888-397-3742
Social Security Administration (fraud line): 1-800-269-0271
