Detect suspicious activity by routinely monitoring your financial accounts and billing statements. If you are unable to take these steps while you are deployed, consider placing an active duty alert on your credit report.
Your credit report. Credit reports contain information about you, including what accounts you have and your bill-paying history.
The law requires each of the major nationwide consumer reporting companies — Equifax, Experian, and TransUnion — to give you a free copy of your credit report every year if you ask for it.
Visit www.AnnualCreditReport.com or call 1-877-322-8228, a service created by these three companies, to order your free credit reports each year. You also can write: Annual Credit Report Request Service, P.O. Box 105281, Atlanta, GA 30348-5281.
Your financial statements. Review your financial accounts and read your billing statements regularly, looking for charges you did not make. If you review financial accounts online from a public computer, be sure to log off financial sites before you end your session.
Be alert to signs that require immediate attention:
Hot Links
Use Our Materials In Your Community
The President's Identity Theft Task Force
2006 Identity Theft Survey Report
Test Your Knowledge about Identity Theft - Take the OnGuard Online Quiz
Key Publications
How To Plan and Host Protect Your Identity Days Kit (PDF 6MB)
To Buy or Not To Buy: Identity Theft Spawns New Products and Services To Help Minimize Risk (PDF 229KB)
Take Charge: Fighting Back Against Identity Theft
(PDF 4.9MB)
Information Compromise and the Risk of Identity Theft: Guidance for Your Business
(PDF 152KB)
Protecting Personal Information: A Guide for Business (PDF 3.47MB)