Robert Dodd
Are debt collectors calling about things you’ve never bought? Have you stopped receiving mail? Is the IRS informing you that you haven’t completed all of your taxes, when you know you have?
While these things may seem like unrelated bits of human error, they are unified by one of the largest criminal developments since the dawn of the Information Age: identity theft.
“If there is anybody inquiring of your credit-worthiness and they ask for information from places that you did not apply for credit ... that should be a warning sign,” said Detective Dan Fletcher of the Duncan Police Department.
Fletcher has been working to obtain pamphlets and forms from the Federal Trade Commission, and hopes to set up a booth or kiosk soon where the department can disperse some of the FTC’s information to the public.
While catching localized identity theft has a good success rate, Fletcher noted that online theft or international theft is much more difficult to catch.
However, the victim must understand there is a problem before anything can be done.
“The first thing to check is if you have any unusual bills or notices or e-mail or phone call about something that has been charged to some account that you have not heard of,” Fletcher said.
According to information provided by the FTC, the total number of victims with identity theft complaints in Oklahoma is 2,696, as of Dec. 31, 2008. The state ranks as 28th in identity theft complaints in the nation, per capita.
“Some people check their credit reports, and some do not,” Fletcher said.
“Anything that appears unusual on your credit report should be a red flag.”
Many free credit report sites exist, but according to the FTC, “only one website is authorized to fill orders for the free annual credit report you are entitled to under law - annualcreditreport.com.”
This is due to unauthorized free credit report sites misleading users into paying for the services after a trial period, or attempting to extract unnecessary personal information.
“Some people who do not enter the country legally may even use someone else’s identity (when applying for a job),” said Betsy Broder, of the Bureau of Consumer Protection.
“This is one of the possibilities if you have heard from the IRS that you have not paid taxes (when you have). It’s very hard to prevent, but you can always take steps to minimize risk once it occurs.”
The primary step noted by both officials is to be aware of suspicious activity, and take action once you believe your information has been misused or stolen.
“Depending on the situation, there are different steps to take,” said Broder.
“If it involves the opening of new accounts in your name, you should immediately put a fraud alert on your credit file. Tell one major credit company (TransUnion, Experian or Equifax) and they will convey the info to the other two. Then, contact the company where the account was opened.”
Whatever the case, she said to “file a complaint with FTC, at www.consumer.gov/idtheft. There, when you put the info into our system, you can print out the form as a basis of a police report, which you can then file with your local police.”
After being filed, the information circulates into a law enforcement database used by over 1,700 law enforcement agencies.
With this aid, it gives the difficult task of tracking down elusive identity thieves a much higher success rate.
