Protecting Yourself Against Identity Theft

Mark Kinsey, Director of Outreach and Education

During our September 18th in-service training, Mohave staff spent some time discussing the very serious and ever growing problem of Identity Theft.

Our Mohave staff Robert (Bob) Hickok,
Bette Thompson, Jim Dugo, and Anna Jacobs
educating themselves on ID Theft.

The training began with an overview of what constitutes Identity Theft. Basically, this can be as simple as credit card number theft to an individuals entire identity including Social Security Number, etc. The very sad truth is that over 8 million Americans are effected by this crime each year.

For those of you not aware, the Federal Trade Commission has a very extensive list of resources that can be employed if you believe you are a victim of Identity Theft. In addition, they have an excellent program of helping individuals DETER, DETECT, and DEFEND against this crime.

Tom Peeler and Maria Brissette
reading more on "What To Do
Today to prevent ID theft?"

For your benefit, the following are some minimum items to consider if you believe you have been a victim of Identity Theft:

1. Contact the THREE major credit bureaus and request a
   “Fraud Alert” be placed on your account
2. Contact your primary financial institutions and make them aware, see what services they offer to protect your accounts
3. Close effected accounts immediately
4. File a police report (many folks are not aware that this is critical to documenting the theft of your identity)
5. Depending upon the severity of the actions, contact the Federal Trade Commission at 1-877-ID-THEFT or visit their website at http://www.ftc.gov/bcp/edu/microsites/idtheft/
6. Consider notifying your employer so that they are aware

If you would like more information, we have posted our Mohave training slides under our Training Corner on the web site. During the Mohave training it was emphasized that all individuals should share this information with other family member and friends.

If you or your organization are interested in presenting something like this to your staff, you may contact Mark Kinsey, markk@mesc.org, for more information.

9/29/09 MK

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