How to check if someone is using my identity

Identity theft affects millions every year. Cybercriminals use hacking, phishing, and other malicious activities to commit ID theft and fraud. This includes collecting your data from people search sites like Spokeo, BeenVerified, and Intelius. In this guide, we explain how you can check for identity theft.

Identity theft can lead to fraud, a bad credit rating,  and the theft of personally identifiable information – including your Social Security Number (SSN). Scammers use stolen information to open fraudulent accounts, rack up debt, and even claim government benefits in your name. They may even impersonate you to steal from your family and friends.

The dangers of identity theft can be crippling. This is why you must learn to identify the signs of identity theft. This guide explains how ID theft happens and how you can protect yourself. We will discuss helpful apps you can use to clean up your digital footprint. And provide tips and tricks for minimizing the spread of your data into the hands of scammers.

What is identity theft?

Identity theft is a very serious crime that can lead to serious consequences, including fraud and financial losses/theft. During a successful case of ID theft, scammers will steal your personal information to impersonate you. Criminals may use your data to steal from you or defraud others you know (friends or family).

Below, we have included some of the malicious things scammers can do if they steal your identity:

• Open bank accounts in your name
• Apply for loans, credit cards, or government benefits in your name
• Rent apartments or vehicles using your identity
• Change the contact details on your government-issued IDs to cover their tracks
• Cash your checks without your permission
• Empty your bank accounts
• Max out your credit cards with unauthorized purchases
• Take out a large mortgage on your home, leaving you responsible for the debt
• Clone your social media accounts or email to scam your family and friends
• Commit tax fraud by filing false tax returns to claim refunds in your name
• Use your medical insurance to receive healthcare services, leaving you with unpaid bills and incorrect medical records
• Impersonate you during criminal investigations, causing legal trouble you’ll have to resolve
• Use your identity to create synthetic identities by combining real and fake information for more elaborate fraud
• File false unemployment claims in your name, affecting your financial and tax records

How do I check for signs of identity theft?

Recognizing identity theft early can limit the consequences enormously. So, how can you check if you are vulnerable and someone is using your identity?

The section below will discuss various types of identity theft and how to spot each. To protect yourself from identity theft, pay close attention to your financial accounts, medical records, and other accounts.

Any unexpected changes in your personal information or unusual behavior within your accounts must be handled swiftly. We will explain exactly how to protect yourself later. Let’s take a closer look at different types of identity theft and how they can affect you.

1. Financial identity theft

Cybercriminals often use identity theft to engage in fraud. This makes Financial Identity Theft one of the most common forms of victimization. In the US, more than a million people are victimized by financial identity theft each year.

This identity theft involves someone using your identity to open accounts or make unauthorized transactions. For example, fraudulent accounts or unauthorized charges may appear on your credit report, and small, unfamiliar transactions could appear on your bank statements.

Scammers often test stolen cards with minor charges before making more significant purchases. If debt collectors contact you about accounts you didn’t open, this is a sign that scammers are victimizing your identity.

Other warning signs of financial identity theft include a rejected tax return or unexpected IRS notification. If you receive either, someone may have filed taxes in your name.

Warning signs of financial identity theft:

Below, we have provided signs to look for when you check for identity theft of a financial nature:

• Unexpected bills or charges
• Unfamiliar transactions
• Unauthorized withdrawals
• Rejected tax return
• Unexpected IRS notification
• Debt collection calls for accounts or loans you never opened.
• New credit accounts you didn’t open
• Lowered credit score
• Denied credit or loans
• Unfamiliar credit inquiries
• Missing bills or statements
• Notifications about account changes
• Unfamiliar accounts on utility or phone bills

2. Medical identity theft

Medical identity theft happens when someone uses your personal information to fraudulently access healthcare services or benefits. This type of fraud can lead to maxed-out insurance benefits, inflated medical bills, or incorrect entries in your medical records. If left unchecked, the consequences can be severe, both financially and personally.

To protect yourself, always monitor your medical bills and statements closely. Investigate further if you notice treatments or services you don’t remember receiving. Check your Explanation of Benefits (EOB) documents for unfamiliar claims, which can indicate fraudulent activity.

Also, check your Medicare statements for suspicious entries, such as services you didn’t request. Catching these issues early will minimize the consequences of identity theft and prevent further misuse of your information.

Warning signs of medical identity theft and scams

The following red flags should be taken as a warning sign that someone is trying to scam you:

• Online pharmacies offering medication without requiring a prescription.
• Products priced far below market value, which can indicate fraudulent or counterfeit goods.
• Testimonials from people claiming to be cured by the products or services offered.
• Requests for upfront costs for treatments or products that seem suspicious.
• Promises of quick and effective remedies for serious medical conditions. If they sound to good to be true, they probably are.
• Requirement to sign a long-term contract to obtain treatments or products, which could be a trap.

How to protect yourself against Medicare scams

To safeguard against Medicare scams, there are several things you need to be careful not to do:

• Don’t share sensitive information: Never give your Medicare card or Medicare Number to anyone except trusted individuals, such as your doctor or verified representatives from Medicare, like your State Health Insurance Assistance Program (SHIP). Always verify the contact information for your local SHIP to confirm legitimacy.
• Act quickly if your Medicare card is compromised: If your card is lost, stolen, or damaged, request a replacement immediately through official Medicare channels to ensure your information stays secure.
• Be cautious of “free” medical care offers: Avoid offers of money or gifts in exchange for free medical care, as these are often scams designed to exploit your information.
• Restrict access to your medical records: Only allow your doctor or authorized Medicare providers to access your medical records or recommend services. Sharing this information with unauthorized individuals can put you at risk.
• Avoid unsolicited plan enrollments: Never join a Medicare health or drug plan over the phone unless you initiate the call. Scammers often pose as representatives to trick you into providing personal details.

3. Tax identity theft

Tax identity theft affects you if someone uses your Social Security Number (SSN) to file false tax returns. Most people discover they have been affected when a legitimate tax filing is rejected because of a duplicate return. Always monitor for unexpected IRS letters or notices regarding tax refunds or issues with your tax filing. These could be signs that someone is messing with your tax account.

4. Criminal identity theft

Criminal identity theft happens when someone impersonates you during an arrest or investigation. This can cause unexpected warrants or fines to be issued in your name even though you have not engaged in any criminal activities or been arrested. If you are contacted by law enforcement for crimes you didn’t commit, this could mean that someone pretended to be you when they were arrested or investigated during a criminal case.

5. Employment identity theft

Employment identity theft happens when someone steals your identity to secure a job. They may also try to claim benefits in your name. To counteract this type of identity theft, monitor for unexpected tax documents like:

• A W-2 from an employer you’ve never worked for.
• IRS notices for underpaid taxes incurred for a job you never had.

Unexpected employment-related activities should always be investigated quickly, as they could be a red flag that someone is using your identity to gain employment.

6. Social Security identity theft

Identity thieves often steal Social Security Numbers (SSNs) to open accounts, file for benefits, or commit fraud. These crucial personal details are often stolen by hackers using phishing or malware. If you have previously been victimized, your records may also be sold on the dark web, which means additional scammers may attempt to defraud you.

To avoid this type of ID theft, monitor for unexplained changes in your Social Security account. Also, check for benefits or accounts linked to your Social Security Number, such as unemployment benefits, credit accounts, or tax filings. If you find anything you don’t remember authorizing, you must act quickly to investigate your accounts and flag illegal activities.

7. Business identity theft

Criminals often impersonate companies to commit fraud, which is of particular importance for small businesses. Monitor for unauthorized business loans or credit accounts opened in your company’s name. Be cautious if vendors or customers report suspicious activity linked to your business, as this could indicate you have been victimized by business ID theft.

8. Unemployment fraud

Unemployment fraud occurs when someone uses your personal information, such as your Social Security Number (SSN), to file a false unemployment claim in your name. This type of identity theft can result in financial losses, tax complications, and potential damage to your credit.

How can I tell if someone has filed for unemployment using my identity?

• Unexpected mail: Receiving letters, forms, or payment cards from your state’s unemployment office for claims you didn’t file.
• Notifications from your employer: If your current or former employer informs you that an unemployment claim was filed under your name while you’re still employed.
• Tax discrepancies: Finding unemployment benefits you didn’t claim listed on your IRS Form 1099-G during tax season.
• Fraud alerts: Alerts from credit monitoring services or identity theft protection tools regarding activity linked to unemployment claims.

Unemployment fraud became more prevalent since the COVID-19 pandemic so it is crucial that consumers check for identity theft of this kind.

9. Senior identity theft

Criminals consider seniors easy and lucrative potential victims. This is why scams and identity theft often target seniors.

Seniors (and family members helping them manage their finances) must monitor for unexplained Medicare claims or Social Security changes. They must also check for suspicious investments, charity donations, or other unauthorized financial activities.

Advise senior citizens to be extremely wary of cold calls and other unsolicited messages (SMS, email, or social media).

The seven most common ID theft scams that affect seniors are:

• Medicare scams: Fraudsters steal Medicare details to file fake claims or charge for services that the victim never received.
• Social Security fraud: Scammers use stolen SSNs to claim benefits or commit tax fraud.
• Phishing scams: Fake emails, calls, or SMS messages trick seniors into sharing sensitive information. (Read more on phishing statistics)
• Investment scams: Fraudulent schemes promise high returns to steal money or information. This can also involve cryptocurrency scams.
• Tech support scams: Scammers pretend to offer technical help to access bank accounts or charge for fake services.
• Charity scams: Fake charities solicit donations by exploiting seniors’ generosity.
• Sweepstakes and competition scams: Victims are told they’ve won prizes but must pay upfront fees to claim or receive them.

10. Social media and online account identity theft

Scammers often hack or clone victims’ online accounts to access sensitive data or contact people they know.

This type of account theft can allow hackers to engage in secondary phishing using the info they steal. It can also be used to defraud your family or friends. For example, scammers may contact a family pretending to be you and ask for funds to be wired because of an emergency.

To avoid being victimized, pay close attention to being locked out of accounts or noticing unauthorized devices logged into your profiles. Also, monitor for cloned social media accounts in your name and your genuine accounts for suspicious activity.

11. Child identity theft

Children’s identities are a lucrative target for scammers because they have a clean credit history.

The risk of child identity theft is that it may go unnoticed until the child becomes an adult and starts to need accounts and services (such as bank accounts or credit). At this time, the child may suddenly become aware that they have credit in their name that was acquired illegally by fraudsters.

To prevent this from happening, parental guardians should check their child’s credit report for accounts or loans they didn’t open. They should also be on the lookout for any mail addressed to their child about loans, credit cards, or government benefits.

12. Synthetic identity theft

Synthetic identity theft is a type of ID theft that combines real and fake information to create a fraudulent identity. This identity is then leveraged to rack up charges or steal from creditors. Consumers must monitor for unfamiliar accounts or financial activity linked to their Social Security Number to prevent this type of ID theft. Also, monitor your credit report for unusual activities.

Are there any other signs of identity theft?

If you want to check for identity theft, there are several other signs you can look out for. Other potential signs of identity theft include:

1. Being locked out of online accounts
2. Noticing unknown devices logged into your profiles
3. Increase in spam emails
4. Missing important mail or emails
5. Notifications about data breaches
6. Alerts from identity theft protection services
7. Receiving documents related to employment or benefits that you didn’t apply for

How does identity theft happen?

Identity theft happens when fraudsters manage to get hold of your Personally Identifiable Information (PII) and leverage it to impersonate and defraud you. Thieves engage in ID theft using an assortment of attack vectors:

• Collecting data from public databases online
• Purchasing records from data brokers and people search sites
• Stolen mail
• Phishing scams
• Stealing data over unsecured wifi (including public wifi and evil twin hotspots)
• Social engineering (convincing the victim to share sensitive details)
• Large-scale data breaches that expose personal information
• Stolen wallets or purses
• Burglary

How to protect yourself against identity theft

This section will discuss the best ways to protect your data against identity theft. When it comes to physical documents, you must shred them to ensure they cannot be used to victimize you at a later date. Remember that if someone gains entry to your home or office, they could steal any old documents and use them to steal your identity. Disposing of old documents is an effective protection technique.

Always carefully monitor incoming communications such as SMS messages, phone calls, and emails. Do not open unsolicited emails, and take special care not to respond, download attachments, or click on links within messages. You can use spam filters to help weed out unwanted mail.

Monitor your credit report regularly to catch unauthorized activity as early as possible. Secure your accounts with strong, unique passwords. A truly secure password will be more than 15 characters long and contain a mix of symbols, numbers, and upper- and lower-case characters.

Always enable two-factor authentication for added security. This will ensure that nobody can access your accounts without physical access to your device. This makes it impossible to hack an account by stealing the password (either by brute force or using phishing, spyware, or social engineering).

Never share personal details online, in messages, or with anybody you don’t know.  In addition, be extremely careful about the type of data you provide to online services, such as social media platforms’ “About me” sections. Refusing to hand out your data will help to prevent it from being shared with third parties or sold to data brokers.

We have listed the main methods to protect your data and identity below:

Use an identity theft protection service

Identity theft protection services work on your behalf to monitor your credit and alert you about any suspicious activity. This allows you to check for identity theft proactively.

Services like Norton LifeLock, NordVPN Threat Protection Pro, and Surfshark One+ can provide credit monitoring, ID leak alerts, credit card leak alerts, and dark web monitoring. They can also help you to recover from ID theft incidents by providing cyber insurance and fraud resolution services.

Secure your online accounts properly

It is vital that you use strong passwords and two-factor authentication. Avoid using the same password across multiple accounts. Also, whenever possible enable account activity notifications. This will ensure that you get an email each time someone logs into your account – which helps prevent unwanted access and fraud.

Protect your personal information

Always keep sensitive documents like your Social Security card, debit cards, credit cards, and other personal data stored in a secure place. Use a shredder to destroy old documents before discarding them. Be cautious when sharing information online or over the phone. Never provide any personal information to anybody who contacts you, instead contact the organization yourself to check you are talking with a genuine agent.

Check your credit report regularly

Checking your credit report regularly helps to spot unauthorized transactions as quickly as possible. This is an easy way to check for identity theft.

You can request a free annual credit report from credit reporting agencies like Experian, Equifax, and TransUnion. This will allow you to identify and dispute any errors or credit issues that are fraudulent.

Use a security freeze or fraud alert

A security freeze prevents lenders from accessing your credit report. This makes it harder for thieves to open accounts in your name because lenders cannot verify eligibility. Fraud alerts notify creditors to verify your identity before issuing credit, which adds an extra step and prevents debt from accumulating in your name without your knowledge.

Use a VPN to prevent identity theft

A Virtual Private Network (VPN) is an online privacy tool that can help you protect your digital footprint and data online. A VPN encrypts your internet connection to conceal your online activities, communications metadata, and other personal information.

Using a VPN stops your information from being tracked by local networks (including public Wi-Fi hotspots, home networks, work networks, and malicious Wi-Fi hotspots set up by hackers), Internet Service Providers (which collect your data and sell it to third parties such as data brokers), and other eavesdroppers.

When you use a VPN, your sensitive information, such as login credentials, financial details, and personal data, is shielded from unwanted tracking. This helps prevent data theft and stems the flow of information from your ISP to unwanted third parties, such as data brokers and government agencies.

A VPN hides your IP address

A VPN hides your home IP address from the websites and services you visit. This makes it harder for hackers to target your home network in search of vulnerabilities. This is vital when using P2P services (including when torrenting) because it prevents your IP address from being shared with other users (who could be cybercriminals).

Some VPNs also include features like ad blockers and malware protection. These features help to increase your online safety by preventing unwanted tracking scripts from gathering data about you.

Although a VPN can not prevent identity theft on its own (or protect you against data theft vectors like phishing and social engineering), it remains the single most effective way to prevent personal information from being harvested and disseminated online. This helps to prevent your data from being sold to people-finder websites that will sell your sensitive data to unwanted third parties, including hackers.

Just bear in mind that a VPN can only stop information from making its way to data brokers and people-finder sites. If your data is already present in those databases, you will need to remove it (more on this below).

How Incogni can help prevent identity theft

Incogni is a privacy tool designed to keep your personal information off data brokers, and people search sites. These sites collect and sell your data, making it available to anybody willing to pay (including scammers and identity thieves).

When you subscribe to Incogni, your data is removed from hundreds of people-finder websites and databases. This massively reduces the chances of your information being used maliciously.

Continuous monitoring

Incogni understands that data brokers and people finder sites want to profit from your data. These cowboy services will seek to re-add your data to their database as soon as possible, claiming to have reacquired it from public databases.

To prevent this, Incogni doesn’t just remove your information once and call it a day. Instead, it provided continuous monitoring to ensure your data isn’t re-added to broker databases. If any site tries to re-list your details, Incogni takes immediate action to have your info removed again.

Simple and time-saving

Manually removing your data from 180+ data broker sites would take hundreds of hours, according to research published by Incogni. This makes removing data manually impractical for most people.

Incogni streamlines this process by handling data removal requests on your behalf. This automated approach makes it significantly easier to protect your identity without dedicating weeks of your time each year.

It also ensures that you are continually using automated means to check for and remove your data from hundreds of popular data broker websites. This prevents you from being re-added to nuisance databases that put you at risk of hacking and identity theft.

Affordable protection

One of our favorite things about Incogni is that it automates the process of removing yourself (and keeping yourself removed) from people search sites. It’s also extremely affordable, particularly if you take advantage of our exclusive offer.

Incogni is offering its account at a special discounted rate of $7.49 per month to our readers. This offer is available only when you sign up using our exclusive link.

For a monthly subscription cost, you will get access to its data removal services and a dashboard where you can continually monitor what the service is doing on your behalf.

When used in combination with a VPN to prevent data collection, Incogni can help completely clean up your digital footprint, making it much harder for identity theft scammers to target you.

What to do if your identity is stolen

In the sections above, we have highlighted how to check for identity theft and how to identify symptoms that identity theft scams lead to.

If you spot unauthorized transactions, have account problems, notice devices acting strangely, or have tax issues – or any of the other telltale signs listed above – we urge you to act fast.

Acting quickly to check for identity theft not only helps to resolve the problem but can also minimize its financial, personal, emotional, and psychological ramifications.

1. Report fraud

If you believe you have been victimized by identity theft or defrauded, you must file a report with the appropriate authority in your country:

• In the United States you can report to the Federal Trade Commission (FTC).
• In Canada, you should report ID theft and fraud to the Canadian Anti-Fraud Centre (CAFC).
• In the United Kingdom, you must contact Action Fraud.
• In Australia, report to Scamwatch, which is operated by the Australian Competition and Consumer Commission (ACCC).
• In India, report to the National Cyber Crime Reporting Portal
• In the European Union, contact your national Data Protection Authority (DPA). Each EU country has its own authority so check for details locally.

If you’re unsure where to file a report, check with your local law enforcement agency or government fraud prevention office.

In addition, report fraud to the following agencies:

1. Notify the IRS (or your national equivalent) immediately if you suspect tax-related fraud.
2. Contact local law enforcement to get a crime report number. This can help you seek remediation, such as an insurance claim.
3. Inform your bank or financial institutions about the fraudulent activity, and contact other relevant agencies, such as the Department of Motor Vehicles (DMV) or Social Security Administration (SSA).

2. Seek remediation

If you suspect that you have been victimized by identity theft, you should seek compensation for your losses. Below, we have explained the steps to prevent further losses and seek remuneration.

Prevent Further Fraud

• Set up a fraud alert or credit freeze: A fraud alert notifies creditors to verify your identity, while a credit freeze blocks access to your credit file.
• Update passwords: Change passwords for all online accounts you believe have been affected. Also, enable two-factor authentication where possible.

Seek financial recovery

• Insurance against scams: The best way to protect against the loss of fraud and ID theft is to get cyber insurance. This can protect you against fraud-related losses. If insured, file a claim immediately.
• Bank refunds: Report unauthorized transactions to your bank or credit card provider. Most institutions will refund fraudulent charges if reported promptly.

Document and dispute fraud

• Keep records: Log all fraudulent activity, correspondence, and evidence for disputes or insurance claims.
• Dispute fraudulent debts: Notify debt collectors of identity theft and provide supporting documentation to avoid liability and have illegal debts removed from your file.

Notify affected parties

• Contact companies involved: Alert any businesses or services where fraud occurred. This can help resolve issues and protect your accounts.

By acting swiftly and leveraging insurance and bank protections, you can minimize losses and resolve identity theft more effectively.

Proactive ways to help prevent identity theft

Identity theft often involves stolen mail, lost wallets, or phishing scams. This means that your behaviors and security habits can help to protect you against identity theft. Below, we have listed some of the proactive measures you can take to protect your identity:

1. Avoid providing your data

We are often too willing to provide information when we join new apps and services. We recommend providing as little information as possible and even fake data when possible. Have you ever joined the public wifi in your local mall? You could have provided a phony name and email, and it would have still let you connect.

2. Don’t connect new apps to existing accounts

When you connect a new app or service to a Facebook or Google account, you allow those services to share data. This can help spread your personal data, which is how it ends up on data broker and people finder websites.

3. Don’t complete the “About Me” section of social media

Many websites and services, especially social media platforms, will encourage you to provide private information. We recommend withholding details such as your phone number, date of birth, and address. Providing this data to private companies and services is an unnecessary invasion of privacy.

4. Use a VPN to protect your web browsing

Wifi networks will track your activities for profiling purposes. This data is then sold to third parties to create a revenue stream. Using a VPN stops local networks from tracing your web visits or hackers from obtaining your IP address and using it for nefarious reasons. It also prevents your ISP from tracking everything you do.

5. Remove your data from data broker websites

People finder websites are a massive threat to your privacy. Websites like Radaris and CocoFinder sell your data to anybody willing to pay. This creates the danger of phishing, fraud, identity theft, and cyberstalking. You can remove your data from all these websites by using Incogni.

6. Never provide Personally Identifiable Information (PII)

Never provide data like your Social Security Number unless necessary. Be especially careful never to share it online or in messages.

7. Choose apps and services carefully

Consider the permissions carefully and ensure you set them up with strong passwords and two-factor authentication.

Can I get a VPN with identity theft protection?

Yes. A few leading VPN providers have begun offering security suites, including extras like identity theft protection and cyber insurance. For example, NordVPN offers NordProtect, which provides identity theft protection and includes features like cyber insurance for US users. NordVPN also integrates with Incogni, a service that removes your data from data broker websites, enhancing your privacy.

Another provider, Surfshark, combines its VPN service with identity theft protection tools. These features include monitoring potential threats and proactive measures to prevent identity theft. This will help you to check for identity theft without breaking the bank.

Choosing a VPN with built-in identity theft protection ensures your internet activity is secure and your personal data is safeguarded from cybercriminals. The best thing is that combining your subscription to these services can save you a lot of money.

It is possible to get a VPN with a password manager, identity protection, and secure cloud storage for a price you could not beat if buying these services separately.

Check for identity theft FAQs