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Identity Theft Information Parts 3, 4 & 5
[ IDENTITY THEFT & RELATED CONSUMER RIGHTS:
Originally compiled by Jack H. (Nick) McCall Jr. (2003)
Introductory Note: This article provides a summary of various issues relating to identity theft. It is intended to be purely informational in nature and to provide an overview of the issues regarding identity theft; it does not constitute legal advice regarding any specific situations, nor does it necessarily cover all legal and practical aspects of identity theft. Please contact a lawyer for legal advice regarding any specific set of facts or circumstances.]
Bankruptcy Fraud: U.S. Trustee
If you believe someone has fraudulently filed for bankruptcy in your name, write to the U.S. Trustee in the region where the bankruptcy was filed. A list of the U.S. Trustee Program’s Regional Offices is available on the U.S. Trustee’s website or you may look in the telephone book under the Blue Pages under “US Government – Bankruptcy Administration.” You may contact the nearest U.S. Trustee Program’s office for Region 8 at 31 East 11th Street, 4th Floor, Chattanooga, TN 37402, phone: 423-752-5153, fax: 423-752-5161. Your letter should describe the situation and provide proof of your identity. The U.S. Trustee, if appropriate, will make a criminal referral to law enforcement authorities if you provide appropriate documentation to substantiate your claim. You also may want to file a complaint with the U.S. Attorney or the FBI in the city where the bankruptcy was filed. The U.S. Trustee does not provide legal representation, legal advice or referrals to lawyers. This means that you may need to hire an attorney to help convince the Bankruptcy Court that the filing is fraudulent. The U.S. Trustee also does not provide consumers with free copies of court documents. Those documents are available from the Bankruptcy Court clerk’s office for a fee. Criminal Violations Although procedures to correct your record within the criminal justice databases vary from state to state, and even from county to county, the following information servesas a general guide. If wrongful criminal violations are attributed to your name, contact the arresting or citing law enforcement agency – that is, the police or sheriff’s department that originally arrested the person using your identity, or the court agency that issued the warrant for the arrest. File an impersonation report and have your identity confirmed. The police department takes a full set of your fingerprints and your photograph, and copies any photo identification documents like your driver’s license, passport or visa. Ask the law enforcement agency to compare the prints and photographs with those of the imposter to establish your innocence. If the arrest warrant is from a state or county other than where you live, ask your local police department to send the impersonation report to the police department in the jurisdiction where the arrest warrant, traffic citation or criminal conviction originated. The law enforcement agency should then recall any warrants and issue a “clearance letter” or certificate of release (if you were arrested/booked). You’ll need to keep this document with you at all times in case you’re wrongly arrested. Also, ask the law enforcement agency to file, with the district attorney’s (“D.A.'s”) office and/or court where the crime took place, the record of the follow-up investigation establishing your innocence. This will result in an amended complaint being issued. Once your name is recorded in a criminal database, it’s unlikely that it will be completely removed from the official record. Ask that the “key name,” or “primary name,” be changed from your name to the imposter’s name (or to “John Doe” if the imposter’s true identity is not known), with your name noted only as an alias. You’ll also want to clear your name in the court records. Contact the D.A.’s office in the county where the case was originally prosecuted. Ask the D.A.’s office there for the appropriate court records needed to clear your name. Finally, contact the Tennessee Department of Safety (see the next section below) to find out if your driver’s license is being used by the identity thief. Ask that your files be flagged for possible fraud. You may need to hire a criminal defense attorney to help you clear your name. Contact the Chattanooga Bar Association’s Lawyer Referral and Information Service at 266-5950 for helpful assistance in finding an attorney. Fake Driver’s Licenses: Tennessee Department of Safety
If you think that your name or Social Security number is being used by an identity thief to get a driver’s license or a non-driver’s identity card, contact the Tennessee Department of Safety, which handles motor vehicle licensing in this state. You can reach the Safety Department’s Driver License Station for Knox County by phone at 865-594- 6399. Investment Fraud: U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission (the “SEC”)
The SEC’s Office of Investor Education and Assistance serves investors who complain to the SEC about investment fraud or the mishandling of their investments by securities professionals. If you believe that an identity thief has tampered with your securities investments or a brokerage account, immediately report it to your broker or account manager and to the SEC. You can file a complaint with the SEC using the online Complaint Center at www.sec.gov/complaint.shtml. Be sure to include as much detail as possible. If you don’t have access to the Internet, you can write to the SEC at its Office of Investor Education and Assistance, 100 F Street, N.E., Washington DC, 20549-0213 or fax 202-772-9295. Mail Theft: U.S. Postal Inspection Service (“USPIS”)
The USPIS is the law enforcement arm of the U.S. Postal Service and is responsible for investigating cases of identity theft involving the U.S. mail system. If an identity thief has stolen your mail to get new credit cards, bank or credit card statements, pre-screened credit offers or tax information, has falsified change-of-address forms, or obtained your personal information through a fraud conducted by mail, report it to your local postal inspector. You can locate the USPIS district office nearest you by calling your local post office for your particular ZIP code, or by checking the list at the website above. Passport Fraud: United States Department of State (“USDS”)
If you’ve lost your passport or believe it was stolen or is being used fraudulently, contact the USDS through their website or call a local USDS field office. You can also contact the General Post Office for Knox County for any passport-related questions at the following address: 1237 E. Weisgarber Road, Knoxville, TN 37950-9616, phone: 865- 558-4664. Phone Fraud If an identity thief has established phone service in your name, is making unauthorized calls that seem to come from, and are billed to, your cellular phone, or is using your calling card and PIN, contact your service provider immediately to cancel the account and/or calling card. Open new accounts and choose new PINs. If you’re having trouble getting fraudulent phone charges removed from your account or getting an unauthorized account closed, contact the appropriate agency from the list below. · For local service: contact the Tennessee Regulatory Agency (.TRA.) www.state.tn.us/tra/index.htm. The TRA regulates local telephone service across this state. You can reach the TRA at 460 James Robertson Parkway, Nashville, TN 37243, or by phone at 1-800-342-8359. · For cellular phones and long distance: contact the Federal Communications Commission (“FCC”) – www.fcc.gov. The FCC regulates interstate and international communications by radio, television, wire, satellite and cable. You can contact the FCC’s Consumer Information Bureau to find out about information, forms, applications and current issues before the FCC. Call: 1-888-CALL-FCC; TTY: 1-888-TELL-FCC; or write: Federal Communications Commission, Consumer Information Bureau, 445 12th Street, SW, Room 5A863, Washington, DC 20554. You can also file FCC complaints via the online complaint form at www.fcc.gov, or e-mail questions to fccinfo@fcc.gov. Be aware that “pretexting,” or procuring cell phone records for sale, is becoming a fast-growing strain of identity theft. For around $100, an online “people locator” or “information broker” can get you access to the records associated with a given cell phone number. They do this by getting your personal data from public records or commercial databases, then calling the phone company, pretending to be you, and authorizing the release of your records. Social Security Number Misuse: Social Security Administration (the “SSA”)
One way to find out if someone is wrongfully using your Social Security number is to check your earnings record. If you are 25 or older and not already receiving Social Security benefits, you will automatically receive a Social Security Statement by mail each year. This Statement lists earnings posted to your Social Security record and provides an estimate of benefits you and your family may be eligible to receive now and in the future. You should get your Statement about three (3) months before your birth month. If you don’t get a Statement, you can ask for one by submitting a Request for Social Security Statement (Form 7004). To get a Form 7004, download the form from the Internet at www.socialsecurity.gov/online/ssa-7004.pdf. The SSA Office of the Inspector General investigates cases of identity theft. You can report allegations of a stolen or misused Social Security number to the SSA Fraud Hotline. Call: 1-800- 269-0271; fax: 410-597-0118; write: SSA Fraud Hotline, P.O. Box 17768, Baltimore, MD 21235; or e-mail: oig.hotline@ssa.gov. Also, call SSA at 1-800-772-1213 to verify the accuracy of your reported earnings and to ask for a copy of your Social Security Statement. You should follow this call up in writing. Several useful SSA publications are as follows: SSA Fraud Hotline for Reporting Fraud – www.ssa.gov/oig/guidelin.htm Social Security: Your Number and Card (SSA Pub. No. 05-10002). www.ssa.gov/pubs/10002.html When Someone Misuses Your Number (SSA Pub. No. 05-10064). www.ssa.gov/pubs/10064.html Tax Fraud: Internal Revenue Service (the “IRS”) www.treas.gov/irs/ci The IRS administers and enforces the federal tax laws. If you believe someone has assumed your identity to file federal income tax returns or commit other tax-related fraud, call the IRS, toll-free, at 1-800-829-1040. Victims of identity theft who are having troubles filing their returns should call the IRS. Taxpayer Advocates Office, toll-free, at 1-877-777-4778. IV. OTHER PRIVACY RESOURCES AND RELATED ISSUES How to Get Off Marketing Lists. You may write to the Direct Marketing Association (the “DMA”) Mail Preference Service at P.O. Box 282, Carmel, New York 10512 to request deletion of names from mailing lists of participating catalog companies and from the telemarketing database of participating telemarketers. You may also fill out an online request form at www.dmaconsumers.org/cg:/offphone. Visit the DMA online at www.the-dma.org for more information about the DMA Privacy Promise, direct marketing and the DMA Ethical Guidelines. You can also file a complaint against any DMA member who violates the DMA Guidelines or the Privacy Promise. Please note that not all catalog companies and telemarketers belong to the Direct Marketing Association, so you may continue to receive some solicitations after you sign up for the DMA's preference services. Additionally, you will continue to receive solicitations and catalogues from companies that you have patronized in the past. To remove your name from these companies. mailing and telephone lists, you must contact each company directly. Also, most telemarketers are required by federal law to maintain a list of individuals who do not want to receive telephone solicitations. Some states also have mandatory do not call lists. If you receive unwanted telephone solicitations, request that the caller place your phone number on its “DO NOT CALL” list. However, the law exempts charitable organizations, political organizations, and polling/survey organizations from maintaining a Do Not Call list, and these types of organizations may continue to contact you regardless of your requests. You may also request removal of names from credit reporting companies. marketing lists by calling 1-888-5 OPT OUT or by contacting the major credit reporting services at the following addresses: Equifax: www.equifax.com Experian: www.experian.com TransUnion: www.transunion.com How to Manage Credit Reports If you’re one of the 190 million people in the United States with a credit card, mortgage, or car loan, information about you probably is stored in the databases maintained by the three (3) main consumer credit reporting agencies. Your consumer credit report is a factual record of your credit payment history. This report can be provided by the credit reporting agency to others in accordance with federal and state laws. The information in your credit report is primarily used by businesses that are trying to decide whether to grant you credit. The information can also be used for other purposes, such as direct marketing. Most of the information in your consumer credit report comes directly from the companies you do business with, but some information comes from public records. The typical consumer credit report includes four (4) types of information: Identifying Information, Credit Information, Public Records, and Inquiry Information. Identifying information consists of your name, nicknames, current and previous addresses, Social Security number, and month and year of birth. Your telephone number may also be included. This information comes from credit applications that you complete, so its accuracy depends on your filling out the forms clearly, completely and consistently each time you apply for credit. This is the only information that is distributed by companies who provide access to “credit header” data. Credit information includes specific information about your accounts, such as the date opened, credit limit or loan amount, balance, monthly payment and payment pattern during the past several years. The report also states whether anyone else besides you (your spouse or cosigner, for example) is responsible for paying the account. This information comes from companies that do business with you. This information is provided to others only in accordance with the Fair Credit Reporting Act. Your credit report may also contain public record information (such as bankruptcy records; state and county court records, tax liens and monetary judgments; and, in some states, overdue child support). Finally, your credit report contains the names of those who obtained a copy of your credit report for any reason. This information comes from the consumer credit reporting agency, and it remains up to two (2) years, consistent with federal law. It is a good idea to review your credit report each year, whether or not you think an identify theft has occurred. Reports can be ordered from Equifax, Trans Union and Experian using the contact information given above. Reports are free to anyone who has been a victim of identity theft as well as to anyone who has been denied credit or employment based on the contents of the report. Children’s Privacy Resources For information on protecting kids online, visit: The FTC: http://www.ftc.gov/privacy/privacyinitiatives/childrens.html The Children’s Advertising Review Unit of the Better Business Bureau: www.caru.org The Direct Marketing Association – “Get Cybersavvy” Family Guide: www.cybersavvy.org Yahoo!'s Parent and Teacher Resources, including Safe Surfing Quiz:
General Information about Online Privacy, Spam and Cookies For information about protecting your privacy and security online, visit: The Online Privacy Alliance: www.privacyalliance.org TrustE: www.truste.org Better Business Bureau Online: www.bbbonline.org Privacy Rights Clearinghouse: www.privacyrights.org Electronic Privacy Information Center: www.epic.org For information about e-mail marketing and “cookies,” which companies with an Internet presence use to track and monitor your visits to their and others’ sites, and which companies often share with advertisers and others (and to learn how to opt out of compilation of personal and advertising/marketing data compiled from cookies), see: DoubleClick: www.doubleclick.com - click on Privacy Policy Network Advertising Initiative: www.networkadvertising.org For help reporting “spam,” which is any unsolicited advertisement received via the Internet, visit: www.spamcop.net. Bear in mind, however, that to date only one person has been convicted of violating the federal anti-spam law. If you’re interested in traveling the internet anonymously, consider downloading the free Tor software available at http://tor.eff.org/ or the commercial services offered by Anonymizer (www.anonymizer.com). These and other products are meant to make it harder for others to engage in “traffic analysis,” that is, to trace your visits to web sites, your online posts or messages, and other communication forms. If you install one of these products, use a site like www.showmyip.com to confirm that your Internet Protocol address has changed; if it has, then the software is working. Protecting Your Social Security Number Although many people think that their Social Security numbers are private, this is not true. Social Security numbers are, in fact, fairly readily available from many different sources. For example, Social Security numbers are often contained in public records, such as death certificates, driving records, court pleadings, and bankruptcy and lien filings and, as such, can be located by many persons. Additionally, Social Security numbers are widely available from credit reporting agencies and other professional information collectors and private investigators to qualified commercial, professional, and government users who use the numbers to check people’s identities and to manage fraud risks. To help protect yourself from fraud, never use your Social Security number as your “unique” identifying number unless you are required to so by law. For example, you will be required to provide your Social Security number for banking and tax purposes. You can legally refuse to provide your Social Security number to private businesses unless it is required for governmental purposes, such as tax withholding. However, some businesses, such as utilities, may require another form of identification or even a deposit if you do not give them your Social Security number and some businesses may refuse to extend credit unless you provide your Social Security number. To prevent widespread disclosure of your Social Security number, never include it on your pre-printed checks or business cards. Similarly, do not use your Social Security number as your driver’s license number or as a student identification number. In general, do not permit others to use your Social Security number for identification purposes. Instead, ask businesses to use a made-up number or pass code if they need to confirm your identity. Often, an identity theft victim’s first inclination is to try to get a new Social Security number if the victim’s old one is stolen. For the following reasons, this may not necessarily be the best option. The vulnerability of the newly issued number is not significantly different from the compromised number, unless you scrupulously protect it. Seeking and receiving a new Social Security number provides no guarantee that the problems associated with the stolen number will be remedied any faster, if at all. In many cases, this may only lead to greater confusion. Your original number will remain assigned to you and linked through SSA computer systems to the new number. The new number will be cross-referenced to the old number for integrity reasons and so that earnings can be properly credited. The SSA does not void, delete or cancel Social Security numbers. When the SSA determines that the same number was accidentally assigned to two (2) different people and assigns a new number to one of these individuals, the numbers are not cross-referenced. A new Social Security number may not resolve the individual’s problems because the SSA does not have the authority to control the use of Social Security numbers by other agencies, organizations and credit bureaus. These organizations (for instance, the IRS, Medicare/Medicaid, the military, the Veterans Administration, etc.) will have records and files organized under the original number. The SSA is neither responsible for, nor can the SSA control, how these organizations use your original Social Security number. Credit bureaus use the Social Security number in conjunction with other information (for example, the individual’s name, year of birth, addresses, and spouse’s name) to identify a record. When the individual uses a new number, he or she is not guaranteed a “fresh start,” particularly if the other identifying pieces of information remain the same. Hence, getting a new Social Security number is no way for a person to try to hide from a poor credit history. A credit bureau may combine the credit records from the old Social Security number with those from the new number. In the case of identity theft, getting and using a new Social Security number may actually create a host of other, new problems. Even when the old credit information is not associated with the new number, the absence of any credit history under the new number actually may make it more difficult for an individual to get credit, continue college, rent an apartment, buy a big-ticket item like a car or home, open a bank account, get health insurance or get a job. Inquiries on a credit record do not always mean someone has used the victim’s Social Security number or applied for credit. Up to 1/3 of all credit reports contain misinformation not attributed to identity theft. When misinformation or an apparent fraudulent account appears on an individual’s credit record, that does not always mean that someone else misused that individual’s number. Some credit bureau records are incorrect because of errors either caused by the reporting company when providing the information or by the credit bureau when adding the information (for instance, a Social Security number was incorrectly keyed or the records of two (2) individuals with similar names were combined). If you can prove that you’re harmed or being taken advantage of because someone has wrongfully used your Social Security number, and if you believe that getting a new Social Security number is absolutely essential, visit your local Social Security Administration office to request a new one. You can contact the local Social Security Office for Knox County at 710 Locust Street, Knoxville, TN 37902, phone: 865- 545-4354, or toll-free: 1-800-772-1213, or at 8530 Kingston Pike, Knoxville, Tennessee 37919, phone: 865-692-0196, or toll-free: 1-800-772-1213. If you’ve done all you can to fix the problem and someone is still using your number, under certain circumstances, the Social Security Administration may assign you a new number. However, the Social Security Administration will not assign you a new Social Security number if it believes that you:
V. THE LAST WORD Don’t give in! Remember, do not allow yourself to be coerced into paying any bill or portion of a bill that is a result of identity theft. Do not cover any checks that were written or cashed fraudulently. Do not file for bankruptcy. Your credit rating should not be permanently affected. No legal action should be taken against you as the victim of an identity theft, but – using the tools and services outlined above – you need to take action to clear your name and record as soon as possible. Identity theft may be a growing problem in the 21st Century, both nationally and in Tennessee; however, you can take many steps in advance to make identity theft more difficult and – if identity theft ever occurs to you – this outline’s suggestions will hopefully give you various ways to better fight its effects. |
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