Stolen Identities: The Signals

Sign number one: Unusual addresses on your credit report. Make sure that you look carefully at your credit report and verify every address that appears on it. An early, and almost definite sign of identity theft shows by an unknown address. This usually means that someone is having a different card in your name “billed” to somewhere else.

Sign number two: Unexpected calls from creditors or collections. If you are being asked for money or told that you owe, look carefully into it before you pay. You should know exactly where the charge is from and when it was made.

Sign number three: Being denied on new credit cards. You may think that you have great credit, so why are you being denied? You should look carefully into this because it could be a sign that your score has been lowered due to identity theft.

Sign number four: Your wallet has recently been stolen. Although it’s not so much a sign it should be a red flag to be extra vigilant and precautious. When someone steals your wallet you should be concerned about what identifying information was in it, not just cash and credit cards that can be easily cancelled.

By adhering to these steps, you may protect yourself from identity theft. They are quick and easy so make sure you check up on your credit score, carefully, every month or two.