How do I know if my identity has been stolen?
Reviewed by Mike Marcacci, Sr. VP of Engineering at OmniWatch
If you have concerns about your identity being stolen, you should act immediately to secure your personal information and accounts. There are many ways for you to find out if someone stole your identity. These are some of the most common techniques to discover and combat identity theft.
Create a my Social Security Account and Review Your Earnings
The Social Security Administration lets you create an account to request new cards and monitor activity. Create your my Social Security Account online to review your past earnings and check for any discrepancies. If you think your SSN has been compromised you should create an account before a potential thief can make one. If you discover that your income records are higher than what you make, this would be an indication that someone has used your stolen SSN to apply for a job.
How to Report a Stolen SSN
If you find errors in your report that lead you to believe your SSN was stolen, you should report any inconsistencies to the Social Security Administration immediately.
OmniWatch™ members can contact support to receive additional assistance in locking/freezing your credit and discussing considerations for your other financial accounts. A dedicated identity restoration specialist will be able to help you fill out paperwork, guide you through the process of restoring your identity, and start an identity theft insurance claim if needed.
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Check Your Credit Report
View your credit report accessible through OmniWatch to see if any new accounts or changes have happened that don’t look right, specifically new inquiries to review your credit report that you did not request.
Monitor Your Credit Card and Bank Activity
Regularly review your credit card statements for any purchases you did not make. Look at all your bank accounts and see if there are any transactions you do not recognize, no matter how small. Oftentimes bank account fraud starts with small amounts first to see if the transaction works before taking out large withdrawals.
Additionally, you should check online payment platforms such as Venmo®, CashApp®, and PayPal® for any unusual transactions. Report any suspicious activity to your financial institution and the police.
File an FTC Identity Theft Report
If you think your identity was stolen, you should file an identity theft report with the Federal Trade Commission. This will alert authorities of potential fraud activity and can help protect you from further damage. Report identity theft at the Federal Trade Commission’s Identity Theft webpage.
FBI IC3 is also a good resource for reporting Cybercrime. This is a cybercrime complaint reporting site run by the FBI and is the nation’s central hub for reporting online criminal activity.
After filing, you should immediately call OmniWatch support at 877-892-8249 to get a dedicated resolution specialist assigned to your case as part of your membership.
What Cybersecurity Professionals are Saying
Chester Wisniewski
Principal Research Scientist at Sophos
“Looking forward into 2023 has me very concerned with what developments we see with the malicious use of machine learning technologies”
Matt Kapko
Cybersecurity Reporter
"Threat actors don’t just follow the news — they react to it and identify new ways to target potential victims during moments of heightened sensitivity."
Chester Wisniewski
Principal Research Scientist at Sophos
"ChatGPT3 could easily be weaponized to help criminals write more convincing phishing and business email compromise scams."