How Do You Know You Are An Identity Theft Victim

"Unfortunately, the most common way people find out they are victims of identity theft is when the  damage is already done."

One victim tells the account of how she found out her information had been stolen.  She writes: I had been thinking about buying a cellular phone but someone beat me to the punch. This person set up an account using his name and paid two bills using my Visa/debit card number. I'm not sure how he got the number since there's only one card. I've heard a lot of theories in the last few days. Nextel allowed this man to set up the account using my card and never verified the information. Had they checked him out, they might have found that the owner of the Visa/debit card was a woman, and not the man starting a cellular phone account. I don't even have a cell phone! The guy took more than half my paycheck, leaving me home all weekend with very little money. Luckily, rent wasn't due.
Yet another victim writes: “On XXXX XX, 2005 - my birthday - my wallet was taken at the checkout counter at (a grocery store). Security cameras showed the checker taking my wallet, and charging nearly $500 of groceries after I left the store. Despite my calling the police, no charges were filed against the individual because he did not "steal" the wallet from my person. The wallet -containing my recently renewed Drivers License, MasterCard, ATM Card, parking card, business cards (with cellular and home numbers), and college ID card (with social security number on it) - was never recovered. The head of store security and the police detective told me that the wallet was probably thrown away.

And a third account of identity theft reads: On September 19, I first became aware that my identity had been stolen. I received a bill from (a department store) - for $675.55 of electronic purchases I did not make. I notified (them), and put fraud alerts at the three credit reporting agencies, and ordered copies of my credit reports. I was dumbfounded by what I discovered: over $7,000 of charges on seven credit cards, with attempts to open 6 more.
 
Starting on September 9^th, most accounts had been opened on the Internet. Despite the fraud alert, accounts are still being opened. An account was opened at (a furniture store) on September 22d. The suspect presented my driver's license - and, despite the fraud alert, the miswriting of my social security number, and obvious differences in the signature - was granted instant credit. Subsequently, nearly $3000 in charges was made, in 6 separate instances, over a four-day period.

By the time these people discovered their identity had been stolen, their credit had already been jeopardized and perhaps even ruined.  They would have to embark on the unfortunate and long journey of proving their innocence.
Though I touch on it more in the book, one thing you can do is to monitor your credit reports faithfully.  You should also be aware when bills do not arrive as expected or you receive statements for credit cards that you do not have.
You may be denied credit for a large purchase and not be given an immediate reason why.  This is a HUGE warning sign that your identity may have been compromised – especially if you’ve always had an excellent credit score.

Conclusion
Finally, if you are receiving phone calls or correspondence from credit reporting agencies or collection departments, you need to look at your credit more closely to see if your information has been breached. For a mere $10.00 you can have immediate online access to your credit information from Equifax. They provide an easy-to-read credit report and it can be securely printed as well. They are one of the largest reporting agencies in the US and offer other valuable services like dispute resolution, credit watch and Identity Theft Protection. There website is worth a visit just to educate yourself on general credit information.

These are all warning signs that you should not ignore – under any circumstances! So what do you do if you think you’re a victim of identity theft?  The first thing you’ll need to do is gather important documents and be able to prove your identity.

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