Protect Your Identity

You can reduce your risk of becoming a victim of one of the fastest growing crimes, identity theft.

 
Identity theft occurs when a thief uses personal information like your bank account or Social Security number to pretend to be you, opening a new account or credit card in your name.

 

By posing as a real person, the thief runs up bills but never pays, leaving you with credit problems. Identity theft costs businesses billions of dollars each year, and it costs consumers their good names.

 

By guarding your information and closely monitoring credit reports or freezing your credit reports you can fight back. Find tips on how to keep your personal information out of the hands of thieves.

 

Nearly 10 million people in the US are victims of ID theft each year. In North Carolina, about 300,000 people are victimized annually. (FTC, 2003)  North Carolina ranks 24th in the nation in terms of identity theft, and five North Carolina cities rank in the top 50 metropolitan areas for identity theft complaints:  Dunn, Thomasville-Lexington, Statesville-Mooresville, Durham and Salisbury.  (FTC, 2011)

 

The identities of more than three million North Carolinians have been put at greater risk of ID theft by the more than 800 security breaches reported to us since December 2005.  

 

 

Businesses lose nearly $50 billion to identity theft each year. (FTC, 2003)

 

Consumer victims lose $5 billion as they try to restore their good names and credit, an average of $500 per victim. Victims of the most serious kind of ID theft, like an account opened in their name, spend $1,180 and 60 hours on average to try to undo the damage. (FTC, 2003)