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The Federal Trade Commission (FTC) estimates that up to 9 million Americans are victims of identity theft each year.¹ Education is the first step to help protect yourself from ID theft. Take this short quiz to see how much you know.
1. Which of the following is NOT a method commonly employed by thieves to steal identities.
a. Rummaging through trash for documents containing personal information.
b. Filing a change of address form and rerouting your bills/financial statements to
another location.
c. Pretending to be a financial institution over the phone or e-mail so you will reveal
personal information.
d. All of these methods are used by identity thieves.
2. Which of the following should you do if you suspect that you’ve been a victim of identity theft?
a. Place a fraud alert on your credit report with each of the three major credit reporting
agencies
b. Close the accounts that you believe have been compromised or opened fraudulently.
c. Document everything.
d. All of the above.
3. Because people are directed to file complaints regarding identity theft with the FTC, the police usually will not get involved.
a. True b. False
4. Once thieves have stolen your identity, what can they do with it?
a. Get a job using your Social Security number.
b. Drain your bank accounts and write bad checks in your name.
c. File a fraudulent tax return using your information.
d. All of the above.
1) FTC.gov, 2010. For more information about how to detect and prevent identity theft, go to www.ftc.gov.
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