Protect Your Privacy

There are many ways that thieves can obtain personally identifiable information (PII).

Examples include:

• Stealing physical items such as mail, wallet/purse, smartphone, trash, etc.
• Stealing digital data as when a business computer system is breached, your computer is tainted with malware or a skimmer is placed on a payment card reader.
• Gathering personal information from social networks and data aggregator websites.
• Phishing schemes – tricks to get you to reveal information.

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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.

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PII includes but may not be limited to a consumer’s name, Social Security number, date of birth, address, driver’s license number, telephone number, passport information, birth certificate, student transcript, or medical record.

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Your membership can be cancelled any time by sending written notice to IDShield. Please see your membership benefits for cancellation instructions specific to your plan, or you can call/email Member Services at 800-654-7757 or email [email protected]. Important: Your membership and payment remain active until written notice is received.

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Credit report monitoring in itself 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.

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No. Many reports contain errors. If you find an account on your credit report you don’t recognize, call that creditor and ask them to tell you whether there is an account that was opened with the use of your personal identifying information, particularly, your Social Security number.

It’s unlikely the Social Security Administration will issue a new number for limited identity theft. In fact, getting a new Social Security number would probably create a new set of problems for you. Remember that your Social Security number is connected to your employment, tax, education and medical records. Seeking a new Social Security number is only considered in extreme situations.

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If someone has used your Social Security number, the best first step is to sign up for IDShield and let our systems and licensed investigators protect your identity from further abuse and develop a plan to secure your accounts.

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A fraud alert is a statement on your credit report indicating that you’re vulnerable to becoming a victim or have been a victim of identity theft. It asks a credit reviewer to take reasonable extra steps to verify the identity of the applicant, reducing the chance a thief will succeed in opening new accounts.

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While fraud alerts are a great tool, they should not be considered complete protection. There are many other ways thieves can use your personal identification information to steal money and commit fraud beyond credit cards, such as filing false tax returns or initiating fraudulent transfers from your bank accounts, which fraud alerts to do not protect against.