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This is the informational hub of identity theft. Here you will find what steps to take following identity theft, what exactly is identity theft, and tips for protection and prevention.

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Steps to take when you identity is stolen.

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Steps to take when you identity is stolen.

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This website shows 5 steps to take when you identity is stolen. To summarize, you first must report the theft. To do this, contact your area's non emergency number and do not call 911. They will report what you said in a police report and you should ask for the report. After you report the theft, contact your financial institutions. You should show them the police report. Change your PIN and get new credit and debit cards.  Next you should ask a consumer reporting agency to issue a fraud alert. Equifax can be used and you should call 1-800-465-7166.  Ask them to send you your credit report. After this, ask who will pay for what was stolen, and what exactly the identity thief did. Finally, you should take the necessary steps to protect your identity from being stolen again.

I chose this website because it clearly outlines steps to take when your identity is stolen in 5 easy steps.

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What can I do if identity theft happens to me?

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If you think your identity has been stolen, you should act quickly to protect yourself. Identity theft can make things very difficult for you. You may have trouble getting approval for things like a bank loan, credit card, or mortgage, or even being able to rent an apartment.

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Identity theft is the non consensual use of private information by third parties. This includes information such as birth date, social insurance number, and banking details.

This website was chosen because it clearly states what identity theft classifies as.

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Identity theft-the unauthorized use of your information by third parties-involves the collection and use of personal information such as your name, date of birth, address, social insurance number (SIN), and other personal details for criminal purposes.

The Canada Revenue Agency (CRA) takes the protection of taxpayer information very seriously and has measures in place to identify suspicious activity involving taxpayer accounts. If the CRA suspects that a taxpayer's personal information has been compromised, the Agency will immediately take the necessary actions to prevent funds from being issued and notify the individual by mail.

What could someone do with your personal information?

An individual may use your personal information to impersonate you and open a bank account, apply for loans or mortgages, obtain GST/HST rebates or refunds, benefit and credit payments, or income tax refunds, and so on.

What can you do to protect yourself from identity theft?

Be extremely careful when you provide personal information such as your SIN, or date of birth over the phone.

Never provide personal information by Internet or email. The CRA does not ask you to provide personal information by email.

Be suspicious if you are ever asked to pay taxes or fees to the CRA on lottery or sweepstakes winnings. You do not have to pay taxes or fees on these types of winnings. These requests are scams.

Keep your access codes, user ID, passwords, and PINs secret.

Keep your address current with all government departments and agencies.

Register for My Account on the CRA Web site at canada.ca/my-cra-account and check your personal information regularly to ensure it is current and valid.

Choose your tax preparer carefully! Make sure you choose someone you trust and check their references. You may also consider authorizing your representative to use the CRA's secure "Represent a client" online service. Always review your return, agree with the content before filing, and follow up to ensure you receive your notice of assessment as it contains important financial and personal information that belongs to you.

Before supporting any charity, use the CRA Web site at canada.ca/charities-giving to find out if the charity is registered and get more information on the way it does business.

Be careful before you click on links in any email you receive. Some criminals may be using a technique known as phishing to steal personal information.

What is phishing?

Phishing involves the use of official-looking emails that direct the recipient to a fake Web site that looks identical to that of a legitimate business, financial institution, government department, or agency. The fake Web site will then request personal or financial information.

Most phishing emails include false statements intended to create the impression of an immediate financial impact or risk to the recipient. If you are suspicious, close the email and contact the business or organization. Ask for confirmation of this information. Be sure to obtain a telephone number or other contact information from a credible source not contained within the suspicious email.

How can you minimize your risk?

Protect your SIN. Don't use it as a piece of ID and never reveal it to anyone unless you are certain the person asking for it is legally entitled to that information. When an organization requests your SIN, ask if it is legally required to collect it, and if not, offer other forms of ID.

Pay attention to your billing cycle and ask about any missing account statements or suspicious transactions.

Immediately report lost or stolen credit or debit cards.

Carry only the ID you need.

Do not write down any passwords or carry them with you.

Protect your computer and its information by installing Internet security software products.

Be extremely careful when you provide personal information via email or over the Internet. Take extra care when providing information on social networking sites such as Facebook.

What should you do if you think you are a victim of identity theft?

You should immediately:

notify your financial institution and the local police;

contact the CRA at 1-800-959-8281;

report the theft to a credit reporting agency such as Equifax or TransUnion;

keep records of recent purchases, payments, and financial transactions; and

call 1-800-O-Canada (1-800-622-6232) for information on where and how to replace identity cards such as your health card, driver's licence, or SIN if necessary.

To report a fraudulent communication, or if your identity was stolen as part of a scam, please contact the Royal Canadian Mounted Police's Phonebusters by email at info@phonebusters.com or call 1-888-495-8501.

Check your credit report

You should conduct a regular review of your credit report and do so immediately if you think your personal information has been compromised.

You can request a free copy of your credit report from either of the companies below.

TransUnion
www.transunion.ca
1-800-663-9980
1-877-713-3393 (Quebec Residents)

If something on the report looks wrong, or if a business you do not know has asked for a copy of your credit report, call the credit reporting agency right away.

If you suspect that your personal information has been compromised and you believe your tax information may be affected, please contact the CRA at 1-800-959-8281.

For more information on how to protect yourself, visit our Web site at canada.ca/taxes-fraud-prevention.

Report a problem or mistake on this page

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Identity theft-the unauthorized use of your information by third parties-involves the collection and use of personal information such as your name, date of birth, address, social insurance number (SIN), and other personal details for criminal purposes. The Canada Revenue Agency (CRA) takes the protection of taxpayer information very seriously and has measures in place to identify suspicious activity involving taxpayer accounts.

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The Canada Post website provides Canadians with a sires of precautions to take to avoid identity theft. They advise never sharing your private personal information online, for example never send an email containing your SIN number. They also advise to protect personal outgoing mail, to avoid information such as your address and postal code getting stolen.

This website is useful because it provides Canadians with simple steps to avoid having your identity stolen.

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In recent years the number of identity thefts per 100,000 Canadians has only been increasing.In 2010 only 2.37 in 100,000 Canadians were victims of identity theft, but in 2018 this number skyrocketed to 10.11. This means the Canadian governments attempts to reduce theft are futile.

This source is useful because it visually conveys the skyrocketing rates of identity theft in Canada.

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Identity theft rate in Canada 2019 | Statista

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This statistic shows the rate of identity theft in Canada from 2010 to 2019.

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This video not only explains what is identity theft, and how thief's can obtain this information. This video also outlines the different ways Canadians are affected by identity theft, and how drastic the impacts can be. The video aims at reducing the risks of being a victim of identity theft.

This video is useful because it concisely explains what identity theft is, and the implications it has.

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Identity Theft and Identity Fraud - What To Do Canada

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This video is a great explanation on how criminals use your information. They call as a solution to one of your problems, the payment is you giving them what they want. Key pieces of your information to allow them to use your credit or debit card to buy whatever they want. They phish for your information. Phishing is them doing exactly explained above.

I chose this video because it is elaborate and expansive.

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Identity theft: How criminals use a low-interest credit card scam to steal from you (Marketplace)

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This video provides viewers with 12 easy steps to implement protecting yourself from identity theft. These steps include encouraging use of bio metric protected walls, such as using apple pay with fingerprint recognition or face identification. Another step to implement is questioning any reason to photocopy your ID. Next you can setup proactive credit alerts to inform you when larger than average purchases are made. A final step you can administer, is the removal of identification from your wallet in instances where it is unnecessary. These steps in combination with the other 8 are essential to preventing Canadian identity theft.

I selected this video because it provides Canadians with 12 simple steps that can easily be applied to reduce the risk of being a victim of identity theft.

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Tips to Protect Yourself from Identity Theft (captioned)

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This video provides viewers with a simple story of an Ottawa man, who had his identity stolen through is mail. Eric Longley tells the story of an identity thief who intercepted a piece of his mail, and from there rerouted all of Longley's mail to the thief's home. He did this by contacting Canada post, and providing them with the information displayed on the first piece of intercepted mail.

This video is useful because it explains to Canadians how easily thief's can access your private information.

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Ottawa man says his mail was diverted and identity stolen

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This image is from the popular film identity thief staring Melissa McCarthy and Jason Batman, and tells the story of a woman impersonating a revenue agency, and uses the information she collects to routinely steal peoples identity.

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This image conveys the concept of a thief impersonating their victim, and how easily this can be done over the internet.

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Reflective Questions - Money Matters Assignment 2