Identity Theft Requires Quick Action

It might be a phone call from a collection agency, wanting back rent for an apartment you’ve never lived in. Maybe the bank refuses to renew your mortgage, citing a lien on your home you know nothing about. Or the bills just start arriving for credit cards, cell phones or other things you don’t have and didn’t buy. However it happens, discovering that your identity has been stolen can be terrifying. There may be no way to avoid the hassles and headaches that are to come, but knowing what to do can lessen some of the anxiety.

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“You want to be made whole and prevent it from continuing, so immediately report the problem,” says David S. Malamed, CA∙IFA. A partner and forensic accountant with Grant Thorton LLP in Toronto, Malamed helps clients and community groups protect themselves from cyber crime and identity theft. “Someone has disrupted your daily activities, stopped you from conducting business or is impersonating you and attempting to commit a crime. It’s fraud.” Thieves use all kinds of tricks to steal our personal information, Malamed says, and many are entirely beyond our control. Hackers break into company computers and steal confidential information; rogue employees sell our personal details to fraudsters; scavengers even pilfer our mailboxes and recycling bins, looking for bills and bank statements. Our love of electronics can also mean windfalls for identity thieves. “These gadgets are easy to lose,” says Malamed. “It’s dangerous for a single item to have so much of our own – and other people’s – information.” Public-use computers in cafés, hotels or on cruise ships are especially easy targets, he cautions. “They just slip a little piece of metal between the keyboard and the plug in back. When you type in your password to check your bank balance, it records every keystroke,” he says. “So bring your own laptop when you travel and use wireless technology.” Derrick G. Jerry, CA, a financial analyst in Mississauga, was still in high school when someone began using his identity. It was four years before he even suspected it was happening. “I was applying for a line of credit when I found out someone had used my social insurance number to get credit cards and make purchases,” he says. “What was especially strange was that payments were being made on the accounts. Either someone made a mistake, or thieves planned to bilk me for much more money and were trying to establish a credit history to drive up the amount they could borrow with my identity.” To find out the extent of the damage, Jerry went online to get an instant credit report. Hard copies are available free-of-charge from Equifax Canada or Transunion Canada, but can also be obtained electronically for a modest fee. He recommends everyone request and review their personal credit report regularly, especially if you’ve ever suspected that your identity has been compromised. “Notify the credit bureaus immediately if there’s anything suspicious on your report,” Jerry says. “They will place a fraud alert on your account that stays there for years. Then any time there’s a credit application in your name, the bureau will phone you to verify it.” Malamed recommends that Phonebusters, a joint initiative of the RCMP and the OPP, be notified if you suspect your identity has been stolen. Also contact the potential source of the problem – the place or institution where your information may have been originally compromised. It can take time to re-establish your credit and good name when you’re the victim of identity theft, but patience will prevail. Both Malamed and Jerry agree that better awareness and education about how to protect ourselves can prevent much of the grief that identity theft can cause. It’s that little ounce of prevention that can save us years of cure.