Identity theft occurs when your personal information is taken without your knowledge and used by someone else to commit fraud or other crimes.  Identity theft can destroy your credit and cost you time and money to get your credit status repaired.  And though a damaged credit rating may not seem important right now, it may be critical when you graduate from UWF and apply for your first career position, when you apply for a loan to buy a new car, or when you apply for a loan to buy a new home.

The Federal Trade Commission provides the following tips for avoiding identity theft:

Deter identity thieves by safeguarding your information

• Shred any documents that have your personal information on them.
• Protect your Social Security number by keeping it in a secure place, not in your wallet or desk.
• Don’t give out personal information on the phone, through the mail, or on the Internet, unless you know and trust who you are dealing with.
• Don’t use obvious passwords, like your birth date, child’s name, etc.
• Secure your personal information, especially if you have roommates, or have people coming into your home.
• When writing a check to pay for a credit card account, only list the last four numbers of your account number on the “For” line of the check. The credit company knows the rest of the numbers, and this will keep everyone else who will handle that check from having access to your account information.
• Never leave your personal items, such as checkbooks, bills, and mail in your vehicle.
• Take your outgoing mail to the post office; don’t leave it in an unsecured mailbox for pickup.

Detect suspicious activity by routinely monitoring your financial records, billing statements, and credit reports

• Keep track of when you should receive bills, and notify the company immediately if your bill does not come.
• Query the reason if you are denied credit for no apparent reason.
• Query the reason if you receive calls about purchases that you did not make.
• Query the reason if you receive statements for credit accounts that you did not initiate.

Defend against ID theft as soon as you suspect it

• Place a “Fraud Alert” on your credit reports and view the credit reports carefully.  Look for inquiries from companies you haven’t contacted or debts on your accounts that you can’t explain.
• Close any accounts that have been tampered with or established fraudulently.  Call the security department in the companies where an account was opened without your knowledge and notify them of the discrepancy.  Follow up in writing with supporting documents.
•  File a police report with your local law enforcement department regarding the fraud.  Get copies of the report to send to the creditors involved.
• You can obtain a free credit report each year by visiting: www.AnnualCreditReport.com, by calling 1-877-322-8228, or by writing to: Annual Credit Report Request Service, P.O. Box 105281, Atlanta, Ga. 30348-5281.
• The three nationwide consumer reporting companies are:

  Equifax: 1-800-525-6285
  P.O. Box 740241, Atlanta, Ga. 30374-0241
  www.equifax.com
  Experian: 1-888-EXPERIAN (397-3742)
  P.O. Box 1017, Allen, Texas 75013-0949
  www.experian.com
  Trans Union: 1-800-680-7289
  P.O. Box 6790, Fullerton, Ca. 92834
  www.transunion.com

• Social Security Administration Fraud Line: 1-800-269-0271; www.socialsecurity.gov

Finally, report ID theft to the Federal Trade Commission through one of the three following locations:

1. 1-877-ID-THEFT (438-4338)
2. Identity Theft Clearinghouse, Federal Trade Commission, Washington, D.C., 20580
3. www.ftc.gov/idtheft

You may pick up a FREE copy of Florida’s Identity Theft Victim Kit at UWFPD (Building 19).