Recovering from an Internet Scam

Have you been a victim of an internet scam? Here are several things to begin the recovery process.

The most threatening scam these days is identity theft. I have had friends who have had their identity stolen and credit ruined. Unfortunately, sometimes the ones who steal our identity are people we know and feel we should trust. In one case, a friend's roommate stole her identity to get a cell phone. Another case involved someone's daughter attempting to get a credit card. When talking to an investigator, they couldn't do much more than write up a statement and say they would look into it.

The recovery process for identity theft is a long and bumpy road. In most cases you don't have proof that you didn't authorize the transaction. So what do you do now?

Here are some tips that will help you recover from identity theft. First, carefully look over the information that the thief is now in possession of and think of the possibilities of what they can do with it. In the Madden-Brooks scam listed previously, it appears that the real damage will be that of spam and marketing your information. If you completed the whole credit check process, you may have given crucial information that could be used for stealing your identity.

Second, monitor your expenses and credit aggressively and/or find a legitimate company to help you do so. If you have online banking, make sure you check regularly for unauthorized charges. Credit monitoring also will help you to identify if others have used your personal information. Typically those who steal your personal information will use it in the first year of having it. That isn't to say that they wont use it later, but the likelihood of such is decreased.

Posted in: Scam Education