“[T]here are two types of people: those who have had their data stolen and those that will.”
The above quote is from Terrence DeFranco, chief executive of Edentify, speaking about the recent appropriation by malicious hackers of information from 45.7 million credit and debit cards from TJ Maxx and Marshalls. The only way to prevent identity theft is to stop using modern means of commerce. Pay with cash, get rid of your mobile phone, and never give out any personal information. Even then, you have a fighting chance, at best.
Or, realistically, you keep a close eye on your credit report, bank accounts, and credit cards, and react quickly when something does happen. My credit card was cloned two years ago, at a gas station, I think. I noticed the charges within a few days, and MBNA cancelled the card and reversed the charges within about 30 minutes. All in all, it was a pretty good experience, considering.
Also, note that a cloned credit card is one thing. This happens when, as is likely for many people after the TJX breach, a thief obtains enough information about your credit card to use it to make other purchases. This can be done online or, in some cases, a duplicate physical card can be made. This is pretty easy to fix. Cancel your card, close your account, and open a new one. Your bank should reverse all charges. Done.
Full-on identity theft is an altogether different thing. This is where an identity thief obtains enough personal information about you to duplicate your identity produce fake identifying documents that the thief can use to open new bank accounts, make online purchases, and even purchase real estate in your name in some cases. It can take years to reverse the damage caused by identity theft.
To prevent this, be very careful of who gets access to your personal information. One of the most important things you can do is buy a shredder and use it to shred any documents with bank numbers, social security numbers, or other sensitive information.
My husband’s identity was stolen, probably by someone who worked in the health care field. SS number, our current address used as former, wife’s name, etc., all used to open two new accounts. That took years and legal counsel to remedy because the lender who allowed the credit cards kept denying receipt of our notarized complaint among other avoidances. Once we had acknowledgement of the fraud, we were still called a year later by an attorney who was going to file a judgment against us (violation of federal law). In the process the lender offered to “charge off” the fraudulent account which we thankfully knew better than to do. When the attorney called, we hired legal counsel and it still took a year to clear it from our credit report. The kicker was we found out who the perpetrator was but could not file charges ourselves because we were not the “victim” and the lender wasn’t interested. Laws have been changed since then (I’m told) which would allow us to pursue legal charges. It’s a mess that no one wants to repeat!