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7.) Carry only those cards you know you will be using that day, or required by law to have in your possession. The rest of your cards should be locked in a safe at home. In the event that your wallet or purse is stolen, you'll not only know which cards were taken, but you should also have a list of all the contact numbers and date the bill arrives. If you don't know, how do you know if one card is switched or if a bill was taken from the mail? See report #3. This is just one more step to help stop identity theft.
8.) When you become a victim of identity theft in addition to filing a police report, if you're restoring your credit yourself, you must also contact countless government agencies, as well as each bank and credit card issuer, and the major credit reporting agencies. (See Resource) As most of these offices will only be open Monday through Friday , 8 am to 4:30 pm, and given the fact that 27,000 people a day will be calling in, you'll spend a lot of time on hold, and away from work. In addition to the attorney consultations and the identity theft affidavits that must be filed for each case (a different case for each company affected, and each time your identity is stolen) the average person will spend 175 hours of time in addition to their financial loss. We have heard of some cases taking over two years to resolve all the issues, even when the thief was caught early on. Nothing will totally stop identity theft, (and you should be aware of companies that make such claims) but there is a lot you can do to prevent it.
9.) Most people don't find out they're a victim of identity theft until they apply for new credit (buying a home, car or other major purchase) or when the credit collection agencies start calling. The average person finds out twenty-four to forty-eight months after their identity was first taken. It's never good to find out you're a victim of identity theft, however if you're going to find out, it's best when a monitoring service notifies you, that something has changed on your credit report, in most cases this will be when a thief is applying for credit, and not when they are using your name. But this only covers financial identity theft.
10.) FALSE Even though the criminal is caught, and the police report is filed, you still have to follow the instructions the government gives in their (46 page) fraud packet to clear your credit. The book is called "Take Charge: Fighting Back Against Identity Theft", (See Resource) which if not downloaded can take over 3 weeks to receive. Catching the criminal only helped stop that series of Identity Theft, it does not clear your credit. And there is no way of telling if, that criminal sold or gave your information to others.
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