You’re not alone; it’s a typical incidence to appreciate, typically lengthy after it’s occurred, that you just’ve fallen sufferer to a rip-off or been a goal of ID theft in Canada. And it’s not too late to do one thing about it—ID thieves will typically wait months and even years after stealing private and monetary info earlier than utilizing it, to lull targets right into a false sense of safety.
What are the indicators of id theft?
Many Canadians solely notice they’ve been a sufferer of id theft weeks or months after it occurred. Listed here are a number of indicators to pay attention to:
- Payments don’t arrive when they need to. This may very well be an indication that somebody has modified your mailing handle and/or e-mail handle.
- Your credit score rating has unexplained decreases, as a result of thieves have opened new bank cards in your title with out making any funds.
- You see unusual purchases in your bank card invoice or unauthorized debits out of your checking account.
- You obtain unfamiliar mail, like payments for bank cards you didn’t apply for.
- You get calls from debt collectors about credit score that you just by no means utilized for.
In case you discover these or different suspicious adjustments, it’s attainable your id has been stolen.
What to do if you happen to uncover ID theft
As quickly as you notice you’ve been a goal of id theft—even when a variety of time has handed—report the crime to the police, your banks and lenders, the Canadian Anti-Fraud Centre (CAFC), and Canada’s credit score bureaus, akin to Equifax Canada.
An important factor now could be to watch your credit score reviews for suspicious exercise. In case you discover any new credit score inquiries and accounts or another surprising adjustments in your credit score reviews, report it immediately. This can assist forestall additional hurt to your credit score rating. You’ll have to stay vigilant and monitor your credit score intently for a number of years, as fraudsters could proceed promoting your private and monetary info to others on the darkish net (hidden web sites not accessible via common net browsers).
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Equifax Full Safety
Equifax Full Safety is a credit score and cybersecurity safety service designed to assist Canadians spot the indicators of id fraud sooner.
- Gives day by day credit score monitoring and alerts
- Scans in your private information on the darkish net
- Social media monitoring by trade chief ZeroFox
Subscription value: $34.95 per 30 days
Credit score monitoring made simpler
A simple strategy to monitor your credit score is to subscribe to Equifax FullTM Safety, an id fraud safety service that can provide you with a warning to potential indicators of ID fraud. Anytime there’s a brand new credit score inquiry in your Equifax credit score report or a key change in your Equifax credit score rating, for instance, you’ll get an e-mail.
Equifax Full Safety additionally helps with preventive measures that may be tough to deal with your self. You possibly can configure the WebScan characteristic to go looking the darkish net in your particular private information and be alerted if it’s discovered. As well as, it screens your social media accounts for suspicious exercise together with scams, malicious content material, account impersonation, and inappropriate content material. And, in case you are a sufferer of ID fraud, Equifax Full Safety will enable you to restore your id with a devoted Identification Restoration Specialist.
How widespread is id theft in Canada?
Identification theft is a rising concern in Canada. The CAFC acquired over 11,000 reviews of id theft in 2023, however this crime is probably going considerably underreported—the true variety of victims is presumably double and even triple that quantity.
