Consumer Rights and Identity Theft
Identity theft occurs when someone illegally obtains another individual’s personal identification information, and it is a very prevalent type of crime in today’s world. Unfortunately, identity thieves have a variety of ways to access your personal information. Your emails, your wallet, even information stolen from government or financial companies. Even crumpled receipts in a trash can be used to obtain sensitive information.
Signs that identity theft has occurred
There is no surefire way to protect yourself from identity theft. Having your identity stolen happens even if you take the utmost precautions because websites are able to be hacked. However, it might not be obvious right away that your were the victim of identity theft. The clearest sign that your information has been stolen is if you start receiving calls from debt collectors concerning charges you’ve never made, or you discover uses of your debit or credit card that seem out of the ordinary. Another indicator of identity theft is not receiving expected bills or other mail from your various financial accounts. If you’ve recently been denied credit or the terms under which you receive credit have drastically changed, it’s possible someone procured sensitive personal information.
Being vigilant about your personal information
It makes sense to keep watch over certain types of information in order to ensure you stop identity theft in its tracks. You should monitor your credit card and other financial statements. Checking your credit report can reveal suspicious activity as well. Monitoring your credit report should be a core defense strategy, because a sudden dip in score can alert you to suspicious activity before you’ve had a chance to receive bills detailing outlandish charges and confusing calls from debt collectors.
If you think you’ve been the victim of identity theft, please contact us.
