Carol Kando-PinedaFederal Trade Commission

ckando at ftc.gov

Helping your patrons with Identity Theft

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17.6 million identity theft victims in 2014 (7% of US population)*

Nearly 400,000 complaints to the FTC in 2016

*U.S. Dept. of Justice, Bureau of Justice Statistics, Victims of Identity Theft, 2014 (September 2015)

Consumer Sentinel Data Book 2017

Types of IDT- Credit card- Tax- Medical- Child

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Examples of Misuse Impact on Victims

• Denial of credit/loans

• Denial of public benefits

• Denial of medical care

• Denial/loss of employment, housing

• Harassment by debt collectors

• Legal issues/arrest

• Stress/anxiety

• Recovery time/expense

• Open credit card accounts

• Open utility accounts

• Apply for a tax refund

• Get a loan

• Apply for employment

• Get medical care

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What to do

• Call the companies where you know fraud occurred

• Place a fraud alert on your credit report

• Report the crime to the FTC at IdentityTheft,.gov

• Might want to file police report

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What is a fraud alert?

• Initial fraud alert

– 90 days

– Renewable

– Entitles victim to one free credit report

– Call one of the three credit report agencies

• Equifax: 800-525-6285

• Experian: 888-397-3742

• TransUnion: 800-680-7289

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Prevention• Monitor your accounts.

• Review financial statements

• Watch for mail related to accounts you did not open.

• Monitor mail to ensure you receive statements you are expecting.

• Get your free annual credit report at www.annualcreditreport.com

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Tax Identity Theft

• Filing a fraudulent tax return using another person’s Social Security number

• Claiming someone else’s children as dependents

• Claiming a tax refund using a deceased taxpayer’s information

• Earning wages under another person’s Social Security number

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What to Do• Complete IRS Identity Theft Affidavit (Form

14039) [PDF]. Mail or fax the form according to the instructions

• File your refund and pay your taxes

• Place a fraud alert

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Medical Identity Theft

• Fraudulent use of another person’s personally identifiable information (PII) such as name, SSN, or protected health information (PHI)

• Often involves the thief obtaining medical goods and services.

– getting prescription

– obtaining healthcare services

– fraudulently billing insurance or Medicare

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What to Do• Ask health care provider for medical records

– You have a right to copies of your current medical files from each health care provider

– You may have to pay for the records

• Send the corrected record to your health care providers

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• Kids don’t usually have credit files

• Carnegie Mellon CyLab Study (2011)

• 10.2% SSN misuse

• 51 times higher than for adults (.2%)

• ID Analytics Study (2011)

• Children 7 times more likely to experience fraud than adults

• Kids in foster care have a harder time

Child identity theft

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• Request a manual search for your child's Social Security number

• Each credit bureau has its own process for this

• Request a freeze

What to do

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Credit freezes

• Credit freeze restricts access to your credit file

• New law – changes coming! Starting 9/21:

• Credit freezes will be free throughout US

• Free child credit freezes

• Year-long fraud alerts (not just 90 days any more)

• Credit reporting companies must each set up a page for fraud alerts and freezes

• For active duty military, free electronic credit monitoring

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• personal recovery plans• step-by-step advice• prefilled forms & letters

• free and secure access• chat & phone support• Spanish language site

FTC.gov/bulkorder

What to know, What to do

• Tips about id theft

• First steps for any type of id theft

• Refers to IdentityTheft.gov for additional steps, depending on info misused

QUESTIONS?

FTC.gov/subscribe