{"id":36999,"date":"2008-03-26T16:35:41","date_gmt":"2008-03-26T21:35:41","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/content.findlaw-admin.com\/ability-legal\/uncategorized\/identity-thieves-can-ruin-your-good-name.html"},"modified":"2008-03-26T16:35:41","modified_gmt":"2008-03-26T21:35:41","slug":"identity-thieves-can-ruin-your-good-name","status":"publish","type":"corporate","link":"https:\/\/corporate.findlaw.com\/litigation-disputes\/identity-thieves-can-ruin-your-good-name.html","title":{"rendered":"Identity Thieves Can Ruin Your Good Name"},"content":{"rendered":"<section class=\"fl-gutenberg-byline\">\n    <div class=\"fl-gutenberg-byline-content\">\n                    <p><em>This article was edited and reviewed by <a href=\"https:\/\/www.findlaw.com\/company\/our-team.html\" rel=\"noopener\">FindLaw Attorney Writers<\/a><\/em><\/p>\n\n                | Last reviewed\n        <time>\n                            May 07, 2026\n                    <\/time>\n    <\/div>\n\n    \n    <div class=\"fl-gutenberg-byline-toggle fl-gutenberg-byline-legally-reviewed\">\n        <h2>\n            <button tabindex=\"0\" aria-expanded=\"false\">\n                <i class=\"fl-gutenberg-byline-icon\"><\/i>\n                Legally Reviewed\n            <\/button>\n        <\/h2>\n\n        <div class=\"fl-gutenberg-byline-toggle-content\">\n            <p><em>This article has been written and reviewed for legal accuracy, clarity, and style by <a href=\"https:\/\/www.findlaw.com\/company\/our-team.html\" rel=\"noopener\">FindLaw\u2019s team of legal writers and attorneys<\/a> and in accordance with <a href=\"https:\/\/www.findlaw.com\/company\/company-history\/editorial-policy.html\" rel=\"noopener\">our editorial standards<\/a>.<\/em><\/p>\n\n        <\/div>\n    <\/div>\n\n    <div class=\"fl-gutenberg-byline-toggle fl-gutenberg-byline-fast-checked\">\n        <h2>\n            <button tabindex=\"0\" aria-expanded=\"false\">\n                <i class=\"fl-gutenberg-byline-icon\"><\/i>\n                Fact-Checked\n            <\/button>\n        <\/h2>\n\n        <div class=\"fl-gutenberg-byline-toggle-content\">\n            <p><em>The last updated date refers to the last time this article was reviewed by FindLaw or one of our <a href=\"https:\/\/www.findlaw.com\/company\/our-team\/contributing-authors.html\" rel=\"noopener\">contributing authors<\/a>. We make every effort to keep our articles updated. For information regarding a specific legal issue affecting you, please <a href=\"https:\/\/lawyers.findlaw.com\/?fli=bylinelink\" rel=\"noopener\">contact an attorney in your area<\/a>.<\/em><\/p>\n\n        <\/div>\n    <\/div>\n<\/section>\n\n\n\n<div class=\"rxbodyfield\" xmlns:o=\"urn:www.microsoft.com\/office\" xmlns:st1=\"urn:www.microsoft.com\/smarttags\" xmlns:w=\"urn:www.microsoft.com\/word\" xmlns:x=\"urn:www.microsoft.com\/excel\"><div align=\"center\"><center><table border=\"0\" cellpadding=\"3\" width=\"580\"><tr><td><p align=\"center\"><font color=\"#FF0000\" face=\"Arial\" size=\"5\"><strong>Identity Thieves Can Ruin Your Good Name<\/strong><\/font><\/p><div align=\"center\"><center><table border=\"0\" width=\"580\"><tr><td valign=\"middle\" width=\"267\"><p align=\"center\"><b><font color=\"#ff1512\" face=\"Arial\" size=\"5\">Identity theft:<\/font><\/b><\/p><p align=\"center\"><font color=\"#000000\" face=\"Arial\" size=\"5\">The act of stealing<br\/> your good name to<br\/> commit fraud.<\/font><\/p><\/td><\/tr><\/table><\/center><\/div><p><font color=\"#FF0000\" face=\"Arial\" size=\"4\">Here&#39;s how to guard against it:<\/font><\/p><p><font color=\"#FF0000\" face=\"Arial\" size=\"4\">B<\/font><font face=\"Arial\" size=\"3\">efore revealing personal identifying information, find out how it will be used and if it will be shared with others. Ask if you have a choice about the use of your information: can you choose to have it kept confidential?<\/font><\/p><p><font color=\"#FF0000\" face=\"Arial\" size=\"4\">P<\/font><font face=\"Arial\" size=\"3\">ay attention to your billing cycles. Follow up with creditors if bills do not arrive on time.<\/font><\/p><p><font color=\"#FF0000\" face=\"Arial\" size=\"4\">G<\/font><font face=\"Arial\" size=\"3\">ive your Social Security number <u>only<\/u> when absolutely necessary. Ask to use other types of identifiers when possible.<\/font><\/p><p><font color=\"#FF0000\" face=\"Arial\" size=\"4\">M<\/font><font face=\"Arial\" size=\"3\">inimize the identification information and the number of cards you carry to what you actually need. If your I.D. or credit cards are lost or stolen, notify the creditors by phone immediately, and call the credit bureaus to ask that a &quot;fraud alert&quot; be placed in your file.<\/font><\/p><p><font color=\"#FF0000\" face=\"Arial\" size=\"4\">O<\/font><font face=\"Arial\" size=\"3\">rder a copy of your credit report from the three credit reporting agencies every year. Make sure it&#39;s accurate and includes only those activities you&#39;ve authorized.<\/font><\/p><p><font color=\"#FF0000\" face=\"Arial\" size=\"4\">K<\/font><font face=\"Arial\" size=\"3\">eep items with personal information in a safe place; tear them up when you don&#39;t need them anymore. Make sure charge receipts, copies of credit applications, insurance forms, bank checks and statements, expired charge cards, and credit offers you get in the mail are disposed of appropriately.<\/font><\/p><p><font color=\"#FF0000\" face=\"Arial\" size=\"4\">For More Information<\/font><\/p><div align=\"center\"><center><table border=\"0\" cellpadding=\"0\" cellspacing=\"0\" width=\"580\"><tr><td><font face=\"Times New Roman\">You can file a complaint with the FTC by contacting the Consumer Response Center by phone: 202-FTC-HELP (382-4357); TDD: 202-326-2502; by mail: Consumer Response Center, Federal Trade Commission, Washington, DC 20580; or through the Internet, using the <a href=\"http:\/\/www.ftc.gov\/ftc\/complaint.htm\" rel=\"noopener\">online complaint form<\/a>.<\/font> Although the Commission cannot resolve individual problems for consumers, it can act against a company if it sees a pattern of possible law violations. <p>The FTC publishes free brochures on many consumer issues. For a <a href=\"http:\/\/www.ftc.gov\/ftc\/consumer.htm\" rel=\"noopener\">complete list of publications<\/a>, write for <b>Best Sellers<\/b><font size=\"3\">,<\/font> Consumer Response Center, <font size=\"3\"><a href=\"http:\/\/www.ftc.gov\/index.html\" rel=\"noopener\">Federal Trade Commission<\/a>,<\/font> Washington, D.C. 20580; or call (202) FTC-HELP (382-4357), TDD (202) 326-2502.<\/p><\/td><\/tr><\/table><\/center><\/div><\/td><\/tr><\/table><\/center><\/div><\/div>","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>  The act of stealing your good name to commit fraud. Here&#8217;s how to guard against it: Before revealing personal identifying information, find out how it will be used and if it will be shared with others. Ask if you have a choice about the use of &#8230;<\/p>\n","protected":false},"template":"","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"_stopmodifiedupdate":true,"_modified_date":"","_cloudinary_featured_overwrite":false},"corporate_categories":[6520,6532],"class_list":["post-36999","corporate","type-corporate","status-publish","hentry","corporate_categories-litigation-disputes","corporate_categories-litigation-disputes__other-litigation-disputes"],"acf":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/corporate.findlaw.com\/legal-api\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/corporate\/36999","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/corporate.findlaw.com\/legal-api\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/corporate"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/corporate.findlaw.com\/legal-api\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/corporate"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/corporate.findlaw.com\/legal-api\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=36999"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"corporate_categories","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/corporate.findlaw.com\/legal-api\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/corporate_categories?post=36999"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}