Theft from account takeovers reached $5.1 billion in 2018, a 120 percent increase over 2017, according to Lintech Enterprises Limited, a high-technology corporation dealing with security products, and Javelin Strategy & Research, an advisory organization specializing in digital finance.
Identity fraud takes place when someone steals your identity and presents themselves as you to make transactions with your money, claim your tax refunds, receive medical treatment, or steer clear of giving their personal details to police officers.
If you’ve been the unwilling recipient of identity fraud, you will have to prove to creditors, law enforcement officials, and banks that you’re not accountable for whatever the crook did while presenting him or herself as you.
1. Proving identity theft to legal courts or law enforcement agencies
Contact the prosecutor’s office and court
If the crook or thief was accused in court of an arrest under your name, get in touch with the prosecutor’s office and the court clerk. Ask them to remove your name from the records. You need to provide evidence of your identification. Then ask for a certificate of your clearance from the court.
Ask for an identity theft passport
Contact the state’s legal office and find out if the state has an “identity theft passport” system. If the state employs such a system, you’ll have to fill out an application. Once you get your ID theft passport, you can easily use it to remove monetary concerns related to identity theft or clarify the situation to cops who might consequently detain you.
Make contact with the arresting police department
If a person was prosecuted and arrested, but gave your personal information and your name, then the ID thief may have presented you with an incorrect criminal history. You may only find this out when you’re consequently imprisoned, fired from a job, or terminated from your employment as a result. Speak to the law administration agency that charged the ID thief to challenge your criminal history.
If you don’t know which agency charged the thief, you may have to seek advice from the court’s clerk. Speak to the court clerk in the jurisdiction, make clear that criminal history was made in your name, and ask how you can get those records.
File A Police Report
Request the agency to help you with filing your police report. Don’t be surprised that you will need to provide your photograph, fingerprints, or any identifying paperwork the police department may require. The police department must be able to compare your details with the thief’s and revise the records.
Ask for Evidence of Your Innocence
Ask the police to provide you with a certificate of release or a clearance letter. Keep your evidence with you all the time. If law enforcement officials arrest you down the road, take advantage of this piece of evidence to clarify the confusion.
Make sure you use extra care if you are stopped by the police. For instance, tell the officer that you’d like to show her or him the clearance letter before getting to the glove box during any traffic stop. Even though you know you’re innocent, the police officer may believe that you have a criminal history.
2. Proving identity theft to the Internal Revenue Service
Reply to The Internal Revenue Service Notice
Chances are you’ll first find that your ID has been ripped off when the Internal Revenue Service sends you a notification that you borrowed money or huge amounts of tax returns were recorded in your name. Don’t hesitate; just call the number mentioned on the Internal Revenue Service notice and submit an ID Theft Affidavit Form 14039.
Chances are you’ll first find that your ID has been ripped off when the Internal Revenue Service sends you a notification that you borrowed money or huge amounts of tax returns were recorded in your name. (Image: via Pxhere)
Get an ID Protection PIN
The Internal Revenue Service will give you an ID Protection PIN that you’ll have to enter when you file the tax return. This PIN will confirm your identity and keep criminals from filing tax returns under your name. The Internal Revenue Service will mail you your PIN in a letter. Make sure that you keep your PIN in a safe place, especially during tax season.
File a police report
Speak to your law enforcement professionals to file a police report. You should use this report to record the theft to the Internal Revenue Service, banks, creditors, courts, and police. Whenever you visit the police station, bring these things with you:
- A duplicate copy of the FTC’s “Memo to The Police“
- The notification you received from the Internal Revenue Service
- Verification or proof of the house address (such as a rental contract or utility bill)
- Government-issued photographic identification number (like a driver’s license or state ID card)
3. Proving identity theft to a creditor or bank
Document your complaint with the Federal Trade Commission
The FTC pursues complaints by phone or online. When you file your complaint, you will get an Identity Theft Affidavit. You’ll need this affidavit to submit your police report. This affidavit is easily the most widely accepted method for victims to challenge scams, though some banks or creditors could request that you submit a separate affidavit related to their business.
File the Federal Trade Commission complaint by contacting them at 1-877-438-4338, or browsing this link. Update the affidavit with new details by contacting the said number.
File a theft alert with a credit reporting agency
You will find three countrywide credit reporting agencies: TransUnion, Experian, and Equifax. Make contact with any agency and ask for the best way to file your theft alert. Filing an alert can make it more challenging for the ID thief to open a new bank account using your ID. It is possible to contact the agencies at the following numbers:
- Experian: 1-888-397-3742, or visit here
- TransUnion: 1-800-680-7289, or visit here
- Equifax: 1-888-766-0008, or visit here
Contact the company where the fraud took place
If someone took your personal details and used them to invest, buy something, or make transactions, contact that particular organization where the fraudulent activity took place and the financial institution or credit card firm to which the bill was made. Seek advice from your lawyer or contact someone in the fraud department and explain what happened.
Follow us on X, Facebook, or Pinterest
