Millions of people have been victimized by identity theft. Identity theft occurs when someone steals your private information, such as your driver’s license or Social Security number, and uses that data for his or her own personal gain, to open credit accounts or take out loans in your name.
If you recently had your Social Security card stolen or an identity thief had access to your Social Security number, someone could be using your
Q: I lost my social security card about a month ago. I already have memorized my social security number and don’t really need to carry
Q: I am unable to file my taxes because someone used my social security number. What should I do? A: If you recently found out
The Social Security Administration, Office of the Inspector General cannot place a fraud alert on your SSN but they do manage a fraud hotline to
Q: I filed for my taxes on Turbo Tax I got a message saying that my social security number has been used and one of
With each passing year, more people are heading online rather than to the mall to get their holiday shopping done. But online shoppers need to
If the person that is your spouse, you need to file a request for what the IRS calls “innocent spouse relief”. Get IRS form 8857 to do this. If not, you should still notify the IRS and Federal authorities that you have been the victim of fraud and identity theft. Lock down your credit reports by getting a credit freeze and putting a fraud alert on your credit files with Equifax, Experian and TransUnion.
Question: I am 24 years old and my credit is not too spectacular. Most of the accounts on my credit reports are things I have done to myself, but the other half (and the most expensive portion of my debt) was done by an immediate family member who knows my social security number and has put cable, electric and telephones in my name and did not pay the bill. I don’t want to get my family member in trouble but I am not sure what to do?
There was an article in the headlines recently about how identity thieves are selling children’s Social Security numbers over the Internet. One way to prevent
This is, unfortunately, a bad case of identity theft. You need to protect yourself and your son in a number of ways, starting by pulling your most recent credit reports, examining them for any other accounts that you may not know about, and then putting a credit freeze on your credit reports. Read this article for more information about how a credit freeze can protect your credit rating.
Fraud alerts help you thwart identity theft by preventing a crook from opening credit in your name. There are two types of Fraud Alerts: an
Q: What Steps Can I Take To Avoid Identity Theft? A: To decrease your chances of falling victim to identity theft, you should shred sensitive
A subscriber to my newsletter went to Half.com, a division of Amazon.com and ordered a book. When she got her Discover card statement, she found
