Sentences with phrase «identity thieves obtain»

How do identity thieves obtain your information and what do they do with it?

Not exact matches

Identity theft occurs when a thief obtains — and illegally uses — your identifying information, such as your Social Security number (SSN) or your credit card or checking account numbers, to open new credit accounts and apply for loans in your name.

If your identity thief is aggressive and gives no indication of ceasing to use your identity to obtain credit, consider using the security freeze to reduce access to your credit file.

If an identity thief has obtained a student loan in your name, report it in writing to the school that opened the loan.

In 2005, this happened on a grand scale: Ambitious identity thieves set up fake businesses specifically to obtain credit reports from consumer data broker ChoicePoint, and ultimately gained access to up to 160,000 records.

Stephen Massey, a notorious identity thief, directed a large - scale identity theft ring and used this exact method to obtain personal information about his victims and ruin their credit.

How bad the damage will be will depend upon how extensively the thief used your identity in order to obtain credit and other benefits.

Although you may realize that you have exposed your personal information and made it easily available to identity thieves, you will never know the total extent of the damage that the thieves have caused without obtaining a copy of your credit report.

If it's true, then your card or account numbers may have been obtained through any number of ways; identity thieves may use every means at their disposal, from credit card skimmers to buying your numbers from illegal sources.