IDENTITY THEFT—ADVICE FROM THE PRIVACY COMMISSIONER 

· Before you reveal any personally identifying information, find out how it will be used and if it will be shared.

· Pay attention to your billing cycles.  Follow up with creditors if your bills don't arrive on time. 

· Guard your mail.  Deposit outgoing mail in post office collection boxes or at your local post office.  Promptly remove mail from your mailbox after delivery.  Ensure mail is forwarded or re-routed if you move or change your mailing address.

· Utilize passwords on your credit card, bank and phone accounts. 

· Avoid using easily available information like your mother's maiden name, your birth date, the last four digits of your SIN or your phone number.

· Minimize the identification information and  number of cards you carry.

· Do not give out personal information on the phone, through the mail or over the internet unless you have initiated the contact or know whom you're dealing with.

· Keep items with personal information in a safe place.  An identity thief will pick through your garbage or recycling bins. Be sure to tear or shred receipts, copies of credit applications, insurance forms, physician statements and credit offers you get in the mail.

· Give your SIN only when absolutely necessary.  Ask to use other types of identifiers when possible. 

IF YOU ARE A VICTIM 

· Report the crime to the police immediately.   Ask for a copy of the police report so that you can provide proof of the theft to the organizations that you will have to contact later.

· Take steps to undo the damage.  Avoid “credit-repair” companies:  there is usually nothing they can do, and some have been known to propose a solution—establishing credit under a new identity—that is itself fraudulent.

· Document the steps you take and the expenses you incur to clear your name and re-establish your credit.

· Cancel your credit cards and get new ones issued.  Ask the creditors about accounts tampered with or opened fraudulently in your name.

· Have your credit report annotated to reflect the identity theft.  Do a follow-up check three months after to ensure that someone has not tried to use your identity again.

· Close your bank accounts and open new ones.  Insist on password-only access to them.

· Get new bank machine and telephone calling cards, with new passwords or personal identification numbers.

· In the case of passport theft, advise the Passport Office.  Contact Canada Post if you suspect that someone is diverting your mail.

· Advise your telephone, cable, and utilities that someone using your name could try to open new accounts fraudulently.

· Get a new driver’s licence.