Easy Ways to Detect Identity Theft
Skip to Content
United Way of Greater Milwaukee & Waukesha County
site search

Easy Ways to Detect Identity Theft

Main Content

March 10, 2017

Written by Gina Sanchez Juarez, Manager of the Center for Financial Stability at La Casa de Esperanza, Inc

According to the Federal Trade Commission, as many as 9 million people have their identities stolen each year. Identity theft can mean that someone is using your personal information to open accounts, make purchases, or file taxes. These acts can damage your credit status and cost you time and money to fix.

It can be difficult to know whether or not your information is secure, but early detection of identity theft is crucial. Here are some easy steps to add to your financial routine:

  1. Review accounts. Once a month review all your statements for any checking, savings, or credit card accounts. Remember that even the smallest changes or occurrences can be a sign of theft. Often, a thief will take small amounts at a time. If you see something that does not look correct, report it to your financial institution.
     
  2. Check your credit report. Review your free credit reports from the three major credit bureaus; Experian, Equifax and TransUnion. If you notice accounts being opened that you don’t recognize, inquiries you didn’t initiate or incorrect information on your accounts, it could be sign that someone has stolen your identity. Contact the credit bureaus and creditor to file a dispute.
     
  3. Confirm your personal details. Be sure all personal information on your report is correct. Name, social security number, address, and date of birth. If you find a mistake contact the credit bureaus (Experian, Equifax & TransUnion) to get it corrected as soon as possible.
     
  4. Open all bills. Open every bill and don’t ignore the ones that you feel are a mistake. This could mean someone else is opening up accounts in your name. If you notice a mistake or something strange, contact the creditor and credit bureaus to file a dispute.

Tip: You can also file a complaint with the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau by visiting: www.consumerfinance.gov.

Sources: Consumer Financial Protection Bureau (CFPB), Federal Trade Commission (FTC).

Have something to say? LEAVE A COMMENT:

The following required items were not provided or are in the wrong format. Please provide the required responses and submit again:

Your email address will not be published. All fields Required.

Name: 
  Please enter your name
  Please enter a valid email
Comment: 
  Please enter a comment

United Way of Greater Milwaukee & Waukehsa County blog and social media presence is designed as a source for information, sharing and collaboration about United Way and health and human service related topics. As part of our commitment to our readers, we expect all posters to abide by the following rules:
 • Posts and comments should be on topic, conversational, and serve to educate or entertain  
 • Posts and comments may not be unlawful, fraudulent, threatening, libelous, defamatory, discriminatory, harassing, obscene or otherwise rude or in poor taste  
 • Posts and comments may not be used for any commercial purpose or otherwise to promote any outside organization or its activities
United Way of Greater Milwaukee & Waukesha County reserves the right, at our discretion, to remove any post or to revoke a user’s privilege to post to our page. Comments found to be in conflict with the guidelines above will be removed promptly.
Comments are not necessarily those of United Way of Greater Milwaukee & Waukesha County and its employees and we do not guarantee the accuracy of these posts.