How To Tell If My Identity Is Stolen

Your Identity Is Important

Being a victim of identity theft can certainly ruin your life for quite a while. You can be denied for everything – tenancy, phone or utility services, loans, mortgage, and you might not even be able to renew your driver’s license. But you might be wondering, “How to tell if my identity is stolen in the first place”?

Identity theft is considered a silent crime because it takes time before the victim finds out that his or her identity was or is being used by another individual. Who knows? Someone might be busy doing some shopping using a credit card under your name right now without your knowledge. While you can try to prevent identity theft, there is no surefire way to stop it. The best defense is to be vigilant. Knowing about the crime at the soonest possible time is a good way for damage control but how will you know?

Unauthorized Charges

If you see transactions in your credit or debit card statements that you do not remember or did not authorize, there’s a good chance your identity was stolen. It would be best to call your bank as soon as possible if this occurs and have them deactivate and/or transfer your account.

Receiving New Credit Cards

If you start receiving new credit cards that you did not apply for, it is very likely that another person has been applying for a new credit line under your name. The first thing you should do is to call the financial institution concerned and alert them. Filing a complaint at credit reporting agencies (CRAs) is also a good idea.

Being Denied Credit

Criminals don't need your fingerprints to steal your identity

You know you have good credit but for some strange reason, you are denied a loan. This is a red flag especially if you know that you never skip on payments. If this happens, you should get your credit checked and see if there are any odd transactions or new lines of credit under your name that you do not know about.

Stolen Or Lost Wallet

If your wallet was stolen or is somehow missing, it would be best to deactivate all your accounts before the thief or the person who found your wallet tries to use these accounts to purchase goods or services. You should also call the DMV to report that you lost your wallet and would like to replace your missing license. Another vital step is to call the Social Security Administration and see whether someone is using your SSN.

Although identity theft is usually related to using another person’s name to open a new line of credit, there are those who steal other people’s identity to get a job. This is where it’s important to contact the Social Security Administration.

Protection From Identity Theft

Enrolling in an identity protection monitoring service is a good idea especially now that data breaches are nothing but a daily activity of a hacker. One must remember that data breaches are possible even in the most secure of networks, so to help make sure that your information is not compromised, it often makes sense to enroll in a monitoring service. This kind of service will alert you whenever certain changes are made in your accounts and whenever a new account is opened.

If You Think You’ve Been Compromised

If any of these warning signs seem familiar to you, it’s important to act quickly. Read our step-by-step guide on what to do if your identity is stolen, and you can take care of the problem as fast as possible. It can often take time to put the pieces of your financial and credit information back together after becoming a victim, but it’s most certainly do-able.

Remember to stay on top of your finances all the time and to immediately question any suspicious activity. The longer you wait, the longer it will take to clean up the mess. Criminals aren’t going to wait to drain your bank account once they know they have access to valid information, so take swift and decisive action to shut down any fraudulent activity.

If you have a story to share about your own identity theft experience, feel free to leave an anonymous comment below.