Identity Protection

Check your Statements

Open your bank statements and credit card bills right away.
Review the transactions for any unauthorized charges or withdrawals and report them right away.

Protect your Social Security Number

Avoid carrying your Social Security Card in your wallet. 

Also, never give out your entire Social Security Number over the phone or online. Most companies will usually only ask for the last four digits.

Create Strong Passwords

Identity thieves love passwords because they open the door to your personal information. 

• Make passwords strong with a minimum of ten characters, including letters, numbers, and symbols. 
• Use various passwords for different accounts and store them in a safe location.

Check your Credit Reports

Monitoring your credit history is one of the best ways to protect against identity theft. You can get your free credit report weekly from each of the three national credit bureaus (Equifax, Experian and TransUnion). 

This is the only official site explicitly directed by Federal law to provide free credit reports.

Annual Credit Report

Don't Take the Bait

Scam artists "phish" for victims by pretending to be banks, stores or government agencies. They do this over the phone, in e-mails and in the regular mail.

Do not respond to any request to verify your personal information, account number or password. Legitimate companies do not request this kind of information in this way.

Bottom line: Never give out your personal information – unless you made the contact.

Additional Resources

Annual Credit Report

Fraud and Scams

MN Department of Commerce

Phishing

Report Identity Theft