To find out if someone is using your identity, regularly check your credit reports, bank statements, and mail for unfamiliar accounts, charges, or missing documents; monitor your Social Security earnings and tax information; and look for unexpected bills or debt collector calls. Red flags include new credit cards or loans you didn't open, unexplained transactions, denied credit applications, or calls about services you never used.
Here's how to tell if identity theft has already happened:
Signs of identity theft
How To Check If Someone Is Using My Identity
Beware of these warning signs:
Identity Theft: If you think an identity thief is using your SSN to work or to collect benefits, call the Social Security Fraud Hotline at 1-800-269-0271. If you think someone may be using your SSN to work, check your Social Security Personal Earnings and Benefit Statement.
Tools/Resources for Victims
You need to be able to detect, quickly, whether your identity has been compromised before thieves run up huge debts in your name. One way is to regularly review your credit and personal information for signs of suspicious activity. Another is to subscribe to a service like the TransUnion Credit Alert service.
Financial identity theft.
This is the most common form of identity theft — when someone uses another person's information for financial gain.
Go to AnnualCreditReport.com. Request your reports from Equifax, Experian, and TransUnion. Review each report for unfamiliar bank or financial institution names, recent credit inquiries you didn't make, and open accounts you don't recognize.
Inform your bank, building society and credit card company of any unusual transactions on your statement. Request a copy of your credit file to check for any suspicious credit applications. Report the theft of personal documents and suspicious credit applications to the police and ask for a crime reference number.
Yes, someone can potentially take money using just your BSB and account number, primarily through setting up unauthorized direct debits (if they get past security checks) or combining them with other personal info for more complex fraud, but it's much harder to withdraw funds like an ATM withdrawal without your PIN or login details; the main risk is setting up recurring payments or using them with other stolen data like your driver's license, so always share details with trusted entities and monitor your statements closely.
You should also monitor your credit report periodically. You can get free credit reports online at www.annualcreditreport.com. Should you get a new SSN? If you've done all you can to fix the problems resulting from misuse of your SSN, and someone is still using your number, we may assign you a new number.
If you know your Social Security information has been compromised, you can request to Block Electronic Access. This is done by calling our National 800 number (Toll Free 1-800-772-1213 or at our TTY number at 1-800-325-0778).
Check your credit report
Things to look out for include: Searches on your report made by lenders as a result of a credit application. Being linked to an address you've never lived at or don't recognise. Loans and accounts you didn't apply for.
Clues That Someone Has Stolen Your Information
How to spot it: Get your free credit report at AnnualCreditReport.com. Review it for accounts you didn't open or inquiries you don't recognize. A new credit card, a personal loan, or a car loan will appear as a new account.
Learn 11 of the most common ways of identity theft can happen.
If the consumer wishes to cancel the debt review, the debt counsellor cannot remove the flag unless all debts are paid. However, the consumer can approach the Magistrate's Court to have the flag removed.
Spirion (formerly know as 'Identity Finder') is a program that will scan your computer for protected information such as social security numbers, drivers license, credit card numbers, and more. By default, Spirion only scans for social security numbers and driver's licenses.
How to check where my phone number is being used
What Can Scammers Do With Your ID or Driver's License?
If your identity was stolen:
Credit Freezes and Fraud Alerts. Credit freezes and fraud alerts can help protect you from identity theft by making it harder for scammers to open new credit accounts in your name. They can also help stop someone who already stole your identity from misusing it again.