What do I do if my identity is stolen?

Summary

Resources for victims of identity theft.

Body

 

Overview:

Identity Theft is a rapidly growing crime. Your stolen identity can be used to empty your bank account, take out loans, access your social media, and obtain or change a variety of services in your name.

If you believe your University of Idaho account has been compromised, please change your password immediately. Even if U of I and your account are not related to the incident, report it to security@uidaho.edu or at this link, as soon as possible. Your report allows us to correlate this with others potentially affected, in case any UI vendors or systems may be involved.

Mitigation

The Federal Trade Commission

The FTC provides a checklist and guide for developing your recovery plan.

The Consumer Financial Protections Bureau

The CFPB provides information on your rights as a consumer, as well as a guide on what to do if your credit or debit card accounts are hacked.

The Internal Revenue Service

The IRS has additional recommendations for compromised Social Security Numbers, or Tax-related identity theft on their Identity Theft website. 

Freezing Your Credit

You will likely want to freeze your credit following identity theft. Request a credit freeze at each of the following agencies:

Additional Consumer Assistance

In the event that you require additional assistance, the following resources are freely available.

Prevention

Monitor Your Credit

You may monitor your credit for free by rotating your annual credit reports at Annual Credit Report. Each report may contain significant payment records, addresses, phone numbers, collections accounts, public records, and your account numbers. Notice when you receive negative marks (such as collections or late payments), and look for any information (such as unfamiliar addresses or loan accounts) that does not belong to you.

Defend Your Phone

Your phone is now used as a method to identify you. As such, your phone number is a ripe target for identity thieves. You may defend against SIM card swaps (an attack used to take over your phone number) by using software-based two-factor authentication (as opposed to SMS-based two-factor authentication) and placing a PIN passcode on your phone account.

For each provider that uses a default PIN, we recommend changing the PIN. To setup or change a PIN, each wireless carrier has their own instructions:

Defend Your Online Accounts

For each of your accounts that support it, we recommend using a two-factor authentication service (such as Duo MFA). You can find additional instructions on improving your login security at LockDownYourLogin.

Monitor Your Online Accounts

You may monitor your accounts for password leaks by checking with HaveIBeenPwned, a service that tracks major password leaks.

Identity Theft Protection Services

A number of services provide identity theft protection and insurance. Your insurance provider may have identity theft insurance that may be bundled with existing insurance plans.

 

Details

Details

Article ID: 1466
Created
Fri 11/1/19 2:53 PM
Modified
Tue 5/14/24 2:18 PM

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