Step 5. Other Helpful Resources
US Postal Service
Contact your local office of the US Postal Inspection Service at http://postalinspectors.uspis.gov if you suspect that an identity thief has submitted a change-of-address form with the Post Office to redirect your mail, or has used the mail to commit frauds involving your identity.
Social Security Administration
Contact the Social Security Administration at www.ssa.gov (SSA Fraud Hotline: 800-269-0271) with any allegations that involve the following:
- Buying and selling of counterfeit or legitimate SSN cards.
- Misuse involving people with links to terrorist groups or activities.
- Misuse of an SSN by someone else to obtain Social Security benefits.
Internal Revenue Service
Information about the Internal Revenue Service (IRS) can be located at www.irs.treas.gov
If your tax records are not currently affected by identity theft, but you believe you may be at risk due to a lost/stolen purse or wallet, questionable credit card activity or credit report, etc., contact the IRS Identity Protection Specialized Unit at 1-800-908-4490.
If you suspect the improper use of identification information in connection with tax violations contact the IRS Tax Fraud Referral Hotline at 1-800-829-0433.
If you receive a notice from IRS, respond immediately. If you believe someone may have used your SSN fraudulently, please notify IRS immediately by responding to the name and number printed on the notice or letter. You will need to fill out the IRS Identity Theft Affidavit, Form 14039.
US Department of Justice (DOJ)
Contact the DOJ at http://www.usdoj.gov/criminal/fraud/websites/idtheft.html.
The following links provide detailed information related to identity theft and protecting yourself.
- National Do Not Call Registry:
By placing your number in the National Do Not Call Registry an individual will not receive unsolicited telemarketing phone calls except in certain cases. By limiting your contact with telemarketers you have less of a chance of your personal information being sold to a larger data warehouse. To place your number on the National Do Not Call Registry fill out the form located at https://www.donotcall.gov/default.aspx.
- Prescreened Credit Card and Insurance Offers:
By opting out of pre-screened credit card and insurance offers an individual will no longer receive these offers through the mail. Your personal information is obtained by these companies through the three major credit reporting agencies. The receipt of these offers through the mail may lead to identity theft if someone were to steal your mail and respond to the offer. Also, many times these offers contain a significant amount of personal information that you would not want in the public domain.
You can “opt-out” of these offers by filling out the form located at https://www.optoutprescreen.com or by calling 1-888-5-OPTOUT (1-888-567-8688).
- Direct Marketing Association Opt Out Service:
The Direct Marketing Association is the largest trade association of marketers in the United States. They provide marketing services for companies through both standard mail and email. By limiting your contact with these companies you reduce the risk of your personal data being sold to third party data brokers. An individual can “opt-out” of these services by filling out the forms at http://www.dmachoice.org. You will still receive marketing material from companies that you do business with.
The Direct Marketing Association’s website is located at www.the-dma.org and they can be contacted by standard mail at Direct Marketing Association, P. O. Box 643, Carmel, NY 10512.
- Bank Financial Institutions Opt-Out:
Banks and financial institutions typically provide your personal data to non-affiliated companies for the purpose of marketing and other services such as data brokers. The ability to “opt-out” of such services is dependent on the privacy terms of an individual’s bank or financial institution (including credit cards). Review your banks privacy policy and contact them to obtain more information on their particular “opt-out” procedure.
- Data Broker Opt-Out:
Data brokers are one of the easiest methods available in which individuals have obtained personal information on members of the service. Each company has a specific method to opt-out, and most provide specialized “opt-out” services for law enforcement personnel when the request is submitted on official department letter head. However, there are data brokers that provide no “opt-out” services.- LexisNexis, Accurint, KnowX: http://www.lexisnexis.com/privacy/for-consumers/opt-out-of-lexisnexis.aspx
- Intelius, USSearch, related companies: Mail on department letter head your information to the following address - ensure that you include the statement “Opt Out of Intelius, USSearch and all affiliated companies and databases”:
- Consumer Affairs, PO Box 808 Bothell, WA 98041-0808
- PeopleSmart: http://www.peoplesmart.com/?_act=optoutpolicy
- Acxiom.com: http://www.acxiom.com/about_us/privacy/consumer_information
/consumer_choices/Pages/ConsumerChoices.aspx - MyLife.com: To request that a Member Profile or Public Profile be deleted, please contact Customer Care at 1-888-704-1900 or contact us by email at [email protected].
- Zabasearch.com: http://www.zabasearch.com/block_records/
- Spokeo: http://www.spokeo.com/privacy
- BeenVerified.com: http://blog.beenverified.com/2012/01/25/opting-out-of-beenverified/
- Peekyou.com: http://www.peekyou.com/about/contact/optout/
- PeopleFinders.com: http://www.peoplefinders.com/optout-form.pdf
- PeopleLookup.com: In order for PeopleLookup to suppress or opt out your personal information from appearing on our Website, we need to verify your identity. To do this, we require faxed proof of identity. Proof of identity can be a state issued ID card or driver's license. If you are faxing a copy of your driver's license, we require that you cross out the photo and the driver's license number. We only need to see the name, address and date of birth. We will only use this information to process your opt out request. Please fax to 425-974-6194 and allow 7 to 14 days to process your request.
- PeopleSmart.com: http://www.peoplesmart.com/opt-out
- PrivateEye.com: http://secure.privateeye.com/help/default.aspx#26
- Whitepages.com: http://www.whitepages.com/privacy_central#6
- USA-People-Search.com: http://www.usa-people-search.com/optout-form.pdf
- Spoke.com: http://www.spoke.com/resources/privacy.jsp
- Radaris.com: http://radaris.com/removal/
- Addresses.com: http://www.addresses.com/optout.php
- The above list is not a complete list the following sites also act as data brokers:
- Ameridex.com
- Anywho.com
- Archives.com
- Brbpub.com
- Dexknows.com
- Dogpile.com
- DoNotCall.gov
- Emailfinder.com
- Freephonetracer.com
- Infospace.com
- Lycos.com
- Merlindata.com
- Metacrawler.com
- Phonebook.com
- Phonedetective.com
- Phonenumber.com
- Rapleaf.com
- Superpages.com
- Switchboard.com
- Whitepages.com
- Whowhere.com
- Yellowpages.com
- Zoominfo.com
- Additional Helpful Resources:
- The Privacy Rights Clearinghouse - Identity Theft Resources at https://www.privacyrights.org/topics/7.
- National Fraud Information Center at http://www.fraud.org or their Hotline 800-876-7060.
- Identity Theft Resource Center at www.idtheftcenter.org or call 888-400-5530, a non-profit organization with helpful information for the ID Theft victims.
- Remove your e-mail address from many national direct e-mail lists: http://www.dmaconsumers.org/consumers/optoutform_emps.shtml
- ITAC (ID Theft Assistance Center), www.identitytheftassistance.org
- National Crime Prevention Council: www.ncpc.org
- Better Business Bureau: www.bbb.org
- To resolve problems with a mail order company, write to:
Mail Order Action Line
1111 19th Street, N.W., Suite 1100
Washington, DC 20036 - For information about Fake Check Scams, contact the National Consumers League website concerning this type of fraud at: www.fakechecks.org. The National Consumers League is a not for profit consumer advocacy group.
National Consumers League
1701 K Street, Suite 1200
Washington, DC 20006
202-835-0747