Personal Solutions: Identity Theft

They can steal your wallet or purse containing identification, credit cards and bank cards. They can steal your mail or rummage through your trash, looking for your bank and credit card statements and pre-approved credit offers. They can fraudulently obtain your credit report by posing as a landlord, employer or someone else who may have a legal right to the information. These are several ways that imposters can get your personal identification and take over your identity.

What should you do?

If you suspect you have been a victim of identity theft, call the Federal Trade Commission's Identity Theft Hotline toll-free at 1-877-IDTHEFT (438-4338) or visit their website at http://www.consumer.gov/idtheft/index.htm

If you suspect you are a victim of an identity theft, the first thing you need to do is file a police report with local law enforcement. Even if the police can’t catch the identity thief, having a copy of the police report will help you deal with creditors.
Your next step is to contact the creditors for any accounts that have been tampered with or opened fraudulently. This includes the bank, credit card companies, phone companies and other utilities. This is where the Federal Trade Commission’s ID Theft Affidavit will help you to report information to many companies by using just one standard form. If you are disputing fraudulent debts and accounts opened by an identity thief, the ID Theft Affidavi t simplifies the process. Instead of completing different forms, you can use the ID Theft Affidavit to alert companies where a new account was opened in your name. The company can then investigate the fraud and decide the outcome of your claim. It’s best to complete this affidavit as soon as possible. Many creditors ask that you send it within two weeks after learning of the theft. When you have finished completing the affidavit, mail a copy to each creditor, bank or company that provided the thief with the unauthorized credit, goods or services you describe.
Finally, you need to contact the fraud department of each of the three major credit bureaus and request that your credit report be flagged for potential or actual fraud: Equifax (www.equifax.com) (800) 525-6285, Experian (www.experian.com) (888) 397-3742 and TransUnion (www.transunion.com) (800) 680-7289.

What is your liability?

Credit Cards
If you report the loss before the credit card is used, the card issuer cannot hold you responsible for any unauthorized charges. If a thief uses your credit card before you report it missing, the most you will owe for unauthorized charges is $50 per card.

ATM and Debit Cards
Be aware that ATM and debit cards do not allow the same protections as credit cards. If you fail to report unauthorized charges within a timely manner, you could be held liable for the charges.

If you report an ATM or debit card missing before it is used without your permission, your financial institution cannot hold you responsible for any unauthorized withdrawals.
If you report your ATM or debit card lost or stolen within two business days of discovering the loss of theft, your liability is limited to $50.
If you report your ATM or debit card lost or stolen after two business days, but within 60 days after a statement showing an unauthorized withdrawal, you can be liable for up to $500 of what a thief withdraws.
If you wait more than 60 days, you could lose all the money that was taken from your account after the end of the 60 days and before you report the card missing.

Checks
Most states hold the bank responsible for the losses from a forged check. However, you may be held liable for the forgery if you do not notify the bank in a timely matter that a check was lost or stolen, or if you do not monitor your account statements and promptly report an unauthorized transaction.