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FTC FACTSfor Consumers

CREDIT

1-877-FTC-HELP

FEDERAL TRADE COMMISSION

www.ftc.gov

FOR THE CONSUMER

Pretexting:

Your Personal

 Information

Revealed

When you think of your own personal assets,chances are your home, car, and savings and

investments come to mind. But what about your Social

Security number and your bank and credit card account numbers? To

people known as pretexters, that information is a personal asset, too.

Pretexting is the practice of getting your personal information under false

pretenses. Pretexters sell your information to people who may use it to get credit

in your name, steal your assets, or to investigate or sue you. Pretexting is against

the law.

How Pretexting Works

Pretexters use a variety of tactics to get your personal information. For example, a

pretexter may call, claim hes from a survey firm, and ask you a few questions.

When the pretexter has the information he wants, he uses it to call your financial

institution. He pretends to be you or someone with authorized access to your
Facts for Consumers

account. He might claim that hes forgotten his

checkbook and needs information about his

account. In this way, the pretexter may be able to

obtain personal information about you such as

your Social Security number (SSN), bank and

credit card account numbers, information in your

credit report, and the existence and size of your

savings and investment portfolios.

Keep in mind that some information about

you may be a matter of public record, such as

whether you own a home, pay your real estate

taxes, or have ever filed for bankruptcy. It is not

pretexting for another person to collect this kind

of information.

There Ought to Be a Law  There Is

Under a new federal law  the Gramm-LeachBliley Act  its illegal for anyone to:

 use false, fictitious or fraudulent statements

or documents to get customer information

from a financial institution or directly from a

customer of a financial institution.

 use forged, counterfeit, lost, or stolen documents to get customer information from a

financial institution or directly from a customer of a financial institution.

 ask another person to get someone elses

customer information using false, fictitious

or fraudulent statements or using false,

fictitious or fraudulent documents or forged,

counterfeit, lost, or stolen documents.

The Link to Identity Theft

Pretexting can lead to identity theft. Identity

theft occurs when someone hijacks your personal

identifying information to open new charge

accounts, order merchandise, or borrow money.

Consumers targeted by identity thieves usually

dont know theyve been victimized until the

hijackers fail to pay the bills or repay the loans,

and collection agencies begin dunning the

consumers for payment of accounts they didnt

even know they had.

According to the Federal Trade Commission, the most common forms of identity theft

are:

Credit Card Fraud  a credit card account

is opened in a consumers name or an existing

credit card account is taken over;

Communications Services Fraud  the

identity thief opens telephone, cellular, or other

utility service in the consumers name;

Bank Fraud  a checking or savings account is opened in the consumers name, and/or

fraudulent checks are written; and

Fraudulent Loans  the identity thief gets a

loan, such as a car loan, in the consumers name.

The Identity Theft and Assumption Deterrence Act makes it a federal crime when someone: knowingly transfers or uses, without lawful

authority, a means of identification of another

person with the intent to commit, or to aid or

abet, any unlawful activity that constitutes a

violation of federal law, or that constitutes a

felony under any applicable state or local law.

Under the Identity Theft Act, a name or SSN

is considered a means of identification. So is a

credit card number, cellular telephone electronic

serial number or any other piece of information

that may be used alone or in conjunction with

other information to identify a specific individual.

Protect Yourself

Even though the laws are on your side, its wise

to take an active role in protecting your

information.

 Dont give out personal information on the

phone, through the mail or over the Internet

unless youve initiated the contact or know

who youre dealing with. Pretexters may

pose as representatives of survey firms,

banks, Internet service providers and even

government agencies to get you to reveal

your SSN, mothers maiden name, financial

account numbers and other identifying

information. Legitimate organizations with

which you do business have the information

they need and will not ask you for it.
Facts for Consumers

 Be informed. Ask your financial institutions

for their policies about sharing your information. Ask them specifically about their

policies to prevent pretexting.

 Pay attention to your statement cycles.

Follow up with your financial institutions if

your statements dont arrive on time.

 Review your statements carefully and

promptly. Report any discrepancies to your

institution immediately.

 Alert family members to the dangers of

pretexting. Explain that only you, or someone you authorize, should provide personal

information to others.

 Keep items with personal information in a

safe place. Tear or shred your charge receipts, copies of credit applications, insurance forms, bank checks and other financial

statements that youre discarding, expired

charge cards and credit offers you get in the

mail.

 Add passwords to your credit card, bank and

phone accounts. Avoid using easily available

information like your mothers maiden name,

your birth date, the last four digits of your

SSN or your phone number, or a series of

consecutive numbers.

 Be mindful about where you leave personal

information in your home, especially if you

have roommates or are having work done in

your home by others.

 Find out who has access to your personal

information at work and verify that the

records are kept in a secure location.

 Order a copy of your credit report from each

of the three major credit reporting agencies

every year. Make sure its accurate and

includes only those activities youve authorized. The law allows credit bureaus to

charge you up to $8.50 for a copy of your

credit report.

Equifax: call: 1-800-685-1111 or write:

P.O. Box 740241, Atlanta, GA 30374-0241

Experian: call: 1-888-EXPERIAN (397-

3742) or write: P.O. Box 949, Allen TX

75013-0949

Trans Union: call: 1-800-916-8800 or

write: P.O. Box 1000, Chester, PA 19022

Your credit report contains information on

where you work and live, the credit accounts

that have been opened in your name, how

you pay your bills and whether youve been

sued, arrested or have filed for bankruptcy.

Checking your report periodically can help

you catch mistakes and fraud before they

wreak havoc on your personal finances.

If You Think Youre a Victim

If you think youve been a victim of pretexting,

the Federal Trade Commission recommends that

you:

1. Report it to your financial institution

immediately. Close accounts that have been

tampered with and open new ones with new

Personal Identification Numbers (PINs) and

passwords.

2. Contact the fraud departments of each of

the three major credit bureaus immediately. Tell them to flag your file with a fraud

alert including a statement that creditors

should get your permission before opening

any new accounts in your name.

Equifax: call: 1-800-525-6285 and write:

P.O. Box 740241, Atlanta, GA 30374-0241

Experian: call: 1-888-EXPERIAN (397-

3742) and write: P.O. Box 949, Allen, TX

75013-0949

Trans Union: call: 1-800-680-7289 and

write: Fraud Victim Assistance Division,

P.O. Box 6790, Fullerton, CA 92634
Federal Trade Commission

Bureau of Consumer Protection

Office of Consumer and Business Education

January 2001

Facts for Consumers

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3. Contact your local police as soon as

possible, and ask to file a report. Even if

the police cant catch the pretexter, having a

police report can help you in clearing up your

credit records later on.

4. Contact the Federal Trade Commission as

soon as possible. The FTC works for the

consumer to prevent fraudulent, deceptive

and unfair business practices in the marketplace and to provide information to help

consumers spot, stop and avoid them. To file

a complaint, or to get free information on any

of 150 consumer topics, call toll-free, 1-877-

FTC-HELP, or use the complaint form at

www.ftc.gov. The FTC enters Internet,

telemarketing, and other fraud-related complaints into Consumer Sentinel, a secure,

online database available to hundreds of civil

and criminal law enforcement agencies

worldwide.

If youve been a victim of identity theft, file

a complaint with the FTC by contacting the

FTCs Identity Theft Hotline by telephone: tollfree 1-877-IDTHEFT (438-4338); TDD: 202-

326-2502; by mail: Identity Theft Clearinghouse,

Federal Trade Commission, 600 Pennsylvania

Avenue, NW, Washington, DC 20580; or online:

www.consumer.gov/idtheft.

The FTC has published a free 21-page

booklet, Identity Theft: When Bad Things

Happen to Your Good Name. This comprehensive guide includes information on what consumers can do to reduce their risk of ID theft; how

consumers can protect their personal information;

the steps consumers can take if they do become

victims of ID theft; and a directory of government resources available to ID theft victims. For

your copy, call 1-877-IDTHEFT or visit

www.consumer.gov/idtheft.