Agency Also Notes a Large Increase in Complaints About “Imposter” Scams Identity theft topped the Federal Trade Commission’s national ranking of consumer complaints for the 15th consecutive year, while the agency also recorded a large increase in the number of complaints about so-called “imposter” scams, according to the FTC’s 2014 Consumer Sentinel Network Data Book, which was released today. Imposter ... Read More »

Filing your taxes should trigger a feeling of relief — it’s a huge thing you get to scratch off your to-do list — but millions of taxpayers have submitted their taxes only to have a very unpleasant experience: that their Social Security number has already been used in a tax filing. Most people discover this when attempting to file their ... Read More »

When a widespread data breach happens, children are often the most at risk for identity theft. Their clean credit histories make them targets for identity thieves to steal information and open new lines of credit. After the Anthem data breach, millions of children in the U.S. had their personal information exposed, making them vulnerable to identity theft. As children are ... Read More »

An awesome series of videos about the realities of identity theft and an introduction to the worst identity thieves around. Find out what it’s not the stranger you need to worry about and why it’s so important to monitor your credit bureau reports for activity on your current accounts. Grab the perfect beverage and spend some time watching these videos. ... Read More »

An estimated 2.32 million American adults were victims of medical identity theft as of 2014, up from the 1.84 million estimated in 2013, according to the Medical Identity Fraud Alliance. That’s a nearly 22% jump in this specific kind of fraud. This month, MIFA released its fifth edition of this annual study, conducted by the Ponemon Institute, which highlights the ... Read More »

We’ve heard a lot in the news about people stealing information on people and using that personal information to file for tax refunds. It’s a growing form of identity theft. But in a new twist, Ronzell and Stephanie Mitchell were using stolen personal information to scam the Department of Education out of $270,000 of student loan money. According to WJLA ... Read More »

Written by Daniel Boylan, instructor of finance at Ball State University Student debt is rising. It is rising at an alarming rate. According to NerdWallet, a typical student will leave college with about $33,000 in debt. Credit card is rising. It is rising at an alarming rate. According to JumpStart, a typical student will leave college with about $5,000. Add ... Read More »

“Dear Steve, My son co-signed my name on his student loans for law school. I did not know that he signed my name on the student loans. In March of 2013, I started receiving calls from a collection agency asking if I could make a payment on these loans. I was never notified before this that I was co-signed on ... Read More »

“Dear Steve, For the past 6 months I have been dealing with a debt collection agency. First National Collection Bureau. They placed a debt on my credit report. The debt did not belong to me. My name was used fraudenlty. I disputed the debt, and came back verified. I sent 2 certified letters, for validation. They never responded. Ive sent ... Read More »

“Dear Steve, My husband and I recently divorced, and I was able to keep the house. While we were married, we got a joint credit card, and also shared a bank account. I was eager to build good credit since I had filed bankruptcy just a couple years before. Unfortunately, my ex-husband had severe substance abuse problems he was able ... Read More »

“Dear Steve, When I was in college my mother took a credit card in my name. Apparently I signed up for a free Bank of America credit card when I also signed up for a bank account. They sent the card to my mom’s house (my official place of residence at the time even though I was in school and ... Read More »

Attorney General Mike DeWine recently sent letters to the state’s public children services agencies offering help in meeting a new federal mandate requiring youth at least 16 years old and within the foster system to have their credit checked. The mandate also requires the clearance of any errors found on their credit report. “Unfortunately, foster youth can be especially vulnerable ... Read More »

The Florida Department of Law Enforcement Tampa Bay Regional Operations Center, with the assistance of the Internal Revenue Service and the Pasco County Sheriff’s Office, today arrested Demetrius Lewis, 37, of Tampa, for one count of organized fraud, five counts of Florida communications fraud and three counts of criminal use of personal information. Pursuant to an ongoing criminal investigation, FDLE ... Read More »

Attorney General Mike DeWine reminded Ohioans today at the Central Ohio Community Fraud Forum that he has launched a new program to assist victims of identity theft. “Identity theft can be extremely damaging to victims and difficult to recover from,” said Attorney General DeWine. “We’ve created this program to help victims get their lives back on track.” The new Identity ... Read More »