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FAQ

What is identity theft?

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Identity theft is the fraudulent use of personally identifiable information (PII) by a thief to obtain goods, services, and/or employment; commit a crime; gain a benefit; or prevent revealing the thief’s real identity.

FAQ

How do thieves get my information?

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Your information may be obtained by stealing physical items (like your mail, smartphone or wallet), stealing digital data (as with a system breach, malware, or skimmers placed on card readers), gathering information from social networks and data aggregator sites, or through phishing schemes, which trick users into revealing personal information.

FAQ

Who is affected by identity theft?

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Identity theft is a crime that does not discriminate. If you have personally identifiable information—and everyone does—it can be stolen and misused regardless of age, credit usage, technology usage, or any other factor.

FAQ

Is identity theft the same thing as credit card fraud?

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Identity theft is much more than credit card fraud. It’s the fraudulent use of personally identifiable information (PII) by a thief for the purpose of obtaining goods, services, and/or employment, committing a crime, gaining a benefit, or hiding a real identity.

FAQ

How is a credit score different from a credit report?

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Your credit score is a numerical representation of the history of credit use found in your credit report. Your credit report lists the details of your credit history, which can include creditor names, addresses, loan amounts, credit limits, payments made on time or past due, and amount of monthly payments.

FAQ

Why do I get different scores from different credit score sources?

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Although most credit reports contain the same information, there is a chance that one credit report might have data that a different credit-reporting agency doesn’t have. If you get credit scores that are each based on a different credit report, you could see different credit scores.

FAQ

What is the difference between resolution, remediation, and restoration?

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Use of the terms “resolution,” “remediation,” and “restoration” by different businesses or products can mean different things. There is no industry-standard for the definition of each. We urge consumers to thoroughly understand the services offered when considering an identity theft product.

FAQ

How does monitoring protect me from identity theft?

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Credit report monitoring does not prevent identity theft. However, it’s a tool that can alert you to activity that may indicate identity theft is being attempted or has taken place. If you learn someone used your data to apply for credit, you’ll take steps to prevent future misuse of your data.

FAQ

What’s the difference between a soft inquiry and a hard inquiry?

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Soft inquiries do not affect your credit score and can include pre-approved offers of credit and insurance, employer background checks, in addition to checking your own credit. Hard inquiries are made by an entity checking your credit, for instance, when you’ve applied for a credit card, loan or mortgage. Numerous frequent hard inquiries can lower your score.

FAQ

I hear a lot about companies having data breaches. What is that?

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A data breach occurs when someone accesses information that they do not have the authority to access. Sometimes this occurs accidentally as when an employee mistakenly sends a file to someone outside of the company but it can occur by malicious intent as well. The potential risk relates to what personal information was exposed in the breach.

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