What is the probability of me being an identity theft victim?
mrfourtwentynine asked:
My school sent me a letter stating that my social security # and other information was compromised resulting from a stolen computer. I have called on of the top 3 credit companies and issued an initial alert. What other things should i do to prevent myself from being vulnerable to identity theft?
My school sent me a letter stating that my social security # and other information was compromised resulting from a stolen computer. I have called on of the top 3 credit companies and issued an initial alert. What other things should i do to prevent myself from being vulnerable to identity theft?
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Depending on the information that was stolen you might need to change your online passwords to financial sites (banks, credit cards).
Social Security gives one access to perform loan fraud and so your calling the big 3 was the most important thing.
Flip a coin if heads…your identity has been stolen.
if tails…you identity has been stolen.
oh yeah and one quesiton…how do you manage to get points without answering questions!!!
If you’ve issued a fraud alert on all major credit agencies then anyone applying for credit must be able to call you via your listed telephone number and verify you are the one making the purchase… this can be a pain in the butt… but good if you have been a victim.
I would personally look into suing the school for negligence… depending on the circumstances under which your information was “stolen”… ie, if it was stolen due to their negligence to have appropriate security policies, procedures, etc.. then you could be nicely compensated for the trouble… so make sure you keep a record of any and all damages suffered.
Unfortunately, there is not much else you can do. You could certainly alert your credit card providers and your financial institutions .. they can alert you to large purchases or withdrawals… etc…
Good Luck
I learned today that identity theft happens in 1 out of every 4 people. Here is a very useful link that tells you how to report and other information
Never use you reel identitty, maek won up, like wat I is, dat whey wen you get pul by polis they no deport youse, unles you liek man I no hoo he steel ident off paedophile and Polis com round and beet him up, dat in mi cuntery, in Englant tat no hapen,
Check you credit report, Yahoo has one free to check on everything under you name. If there are any unknown accounts, that’s the alert. Contact that company/bank and freeze those accounts. By the way, keep that letter from school and as future reference. Make school to post any response to this incident and additional security measure to ensure the privacy act.
I would be very concerned. CNN amongst almost every news publication paper and tv station have done reports on ID Theft. They say people are are careful and didn’t have their information compromised like you did will result in 1 out of 4 people becoming a victim.
Here is the bad news:
1. Per reports, it does not involve just your credit anymore, they are taking your info and using it to get a Drivers Lic in your name and commit crimes (people have actually got arrested and had to prove they did not commit the crime in other states, cities, or countries)
2. They take it and file medical claims which has resulted in people losing their health insurance and unable to get new health insurance because of the severity of the claims that were placed under their name
3. Job history – anything they do can be a negative impact on any job you try to get or school you want to attend
4. the list goes on and on
5. ON a recent CNN Interview of a criminal who steals identities, the theif said he would do it again and again. They make a lot of money, and only 5% are ever caught. So the risk was low, and the reward very high compaired to other crimes
6. ID Theft criminals usually only receive a slap on the hand. Why? because the jails/prisons are over crowded and only want people who commit hard crimes, ID theft is considered a small crime because no one is ever physically hurt. It is usually always committed over the internet.
This is just some of the facts, I would highly suggest enrolling into a program that does not cost a lot considering what it does for you. If your identity is stolen, they will do almost all the work for you to restore it. (If you did this yourself they say an average person spends 600 hours of time and 2500.00 in their own money to get everything fixed)
Check out
The company who provides this sends you a monthly email to let you know what is going on with your identity. They also send a yearly credit report and score, and tell you how to improve your credit. The company was the one the gov’t brought in to unravel enron, and track down sadams finances just to name a few.
you can order a device called “IDVault”. It costs about $40. bucks and keeps all your passwords in it(outside your computer). You plug it into the usb port and never have to type in passwords again.
Also the thing you did with the credit bureau was good. There is a good product you can purchase from Equifax that not only monitors your credit but it blocks thieves from stealing your identity. On top of that it provides you with $20,000. dollars worth of id theft insurance in case you need a lawyer for that problem.