Hi All,The statistics are telling - and daunting:
approximately 15 million US residents have their identities used fraudulently each year
From 2005 to 2010, the percentage of all households with one or more type of identity theft that suffered no direct financial loss increased from 18.5% to 23.7%.
about 7% of persons age 16 or older were victims of identity theft in 2014, similar to findings in 2012
For even more identity theft and fraud statistics, click on this link from StatisticBrain.com...
So...what to do about identity theft?
First, visit IdentityTheft.gov - which is part of the Federal Trade Commission.
As they say IdentityTheft.gov can help you report and recover from identity theft. Their step-by-step plan is quick, easy and very, very effective.
1. Tell them what happened - they ask questions about your situation. The more information that you can provide the better the outcome.
2. You get a recovery program. They use the information you furnished in step one to help develop a personal recovery plan.
3. Put the plan into action. If you create an account, they (IdentityTheft.gov) will walk you through each recovery step, update your plan as needed, track your progress pre-fill forms and letters for you.
If id theft has already happened, click on this link which explains 'what to do right away'. This particular page has links for contacting additional offices for certain accounts (utilities, phones, government benefits, checking accounts, student loans, investment accounts and more)
Hopefully id theft never happens to you, but if it does, these links might help.
Regards,
Stu
