How to Detect Identity Theft

The best way to safeguard one’s identity is to look for various documents for anomaly. The monthly scanning of some critical documents will inform you about the theft as soon as it happens.

Where to look?

• Monthly credit card report
• Monitor deposit account
• Credit report

When to take action?

You should get alarmed and start taking the Identify theft damage control steps as soon as you find any suspicious activities in any of your financial document, credit report, or social security report. You should act immediately if any of the following happens:

• Missing statement or bill: You should be alarmed if the monthly bill or statement you receive in e-mail or through snail mail stops reaching you. If this happens, talk to the concern person if any expected bill or statement has not arrived before taking preventive measure.
• Unknown charges: If your monthly bill, bank statement, or credit card statement has entry that you do not understand then call the concerned company and ask for details of the charge levied on you.
• Debt collection calls: if you get calls from debt collectors or credit card companies to pay the bills of purchase you never made.
• Unsolicited credit cards: If one fine day you come home and find a credit card in your mail box, what should you do? Your first reaction should be to call the issuing company and ask why they send that.
• Denied credit card request: If you think you have been denied a credit card without any reason or have been offered an unfair terms then you need to find if you have become the victim of identity theft.

How to do it?

Prevention and monitoring is your single best defense against identity theft. Take following steps to keep yourself ahead of identity thieves.

• Email and SMS (text) alert: Enable e-mail and text (SMS) alert on for all types of financial transactions with the respective vendors, and set the limit to the lowest.
• Monitor online statement: make a habit of scanning monthly online bank and credit card statements.
• Monitor all financial accounts:

You should frequently check your deposit accounts, credit cards, brokerage account, or retirement account.