The company responsible for the breach should promptly notify you if your information is exposed, and should also tell you what information or types of information are involved. You will also receive an alert from IDSeal via the Digital Spy service if we detect that any of the personal information you provided in connection with your membership account is found being sold, traded or bought in the dark web.

Suspicious Phone Call
It is important to note that phone calls can be phishing schemes that criminals use to try to get your information by deception. Unfortunately, IDSeal is unable to assist with or investigate unwanted or suspicious phone calls such as these. We recommend that you never give any personal or bank information over the phone unless you are certain of the caller’s true identity. You may want to contact your telephone service provider to see if it is possible to block calls from the unwanted number.

You may also contact your state Attorney General to file a consumer complaint regarding these phone calls, as well as filing a complaint with the Federal Trade Commission. To learn more about telephone fraud or report instances of telephone fraud, visit www.ftc.gov/phonefraud.

Another recommendation is to register your phone number on the national Do Not Call Registry at <www.DoNotCall.gov, or by calling 1-888-382-1222 from the number you wish to register. If you register online, you must click on the confirmation email you receive to complete your free registration.

Suspicious Email
Emails may be phishing schemes that criminals use to try to obtain your information by deception. Be sure to delete the email and do not reply or click any of the links. Never give any personal or bank information over the Internet unless you are certain of the sender’s identity.

If you suspect you have been a victim of Internet Fraud, you can file a complaint with the Internet Crime Complaint Center (IC3) which is a partnership between the Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI), the National White Collar Crime Center (NW3C) and the Bureau of Justice Assistance (BJA). IC3 accepts online Internet crime complaints from either the person who believes they were defrauded or from a third party to the complaint.

Please visit www.ic3.gov for additional information.

Suspicious Mail
Unfortunately, receiving suspicious mail is fairly common and does not necessarily mean that an identity theft has occurred. IDSeal is unable to stop or investigate this type of unwanted mail. One suggestion is to mark the mail with “Return to Sender—Not at This Address” and put it back into the mail. If you continue to receive mail that is not yours, please notify the post office. If you are also receiving unwanted junk mail, you can opt out of this online by visiting www.dmachoice.org and filling out the online form. Another opt-out option is: www.optoutprescreen.com. Both services are free to use.

As always, watch your accounts carefully. If you notice any unauthorized activity on any of your personal accounts, please notify IDSeal and the financial institution in question as soon as possible.

If you have not already done so, please immediately contact your financial institution to report the fraudulent transactions so they may begin an investigation into your account.

For your security, your bank or creditor will speak only with the account holder. However, we will assist in reviewing your account with you for any other cards that were possibly in your wallet and contact those entities.

If you are not in your home state when the event occurs, we will help in canceling your cards and assist in contacting your state’s DMV office to replace your identification. A police report may be needed as documentation for a lost or stolen wallet. If you are traveling outside of the United States, we will provide you the U.S. Embassy or Consulate office contact information for passport replacement.

No. Our Identity Care Specialists will assist in contacting your bank or creditor to cancel your lost or stolen cards. These entities will be able to locate your account by verifying other forms of personal identifying information.

No. Lost Wallet Service is included in all our IDSeal plans.

We are sorry you have experienced such an event. IDSeal will assist you in quickly and effectively terminating and re-ordering wallet contents. Please call at your earliest convenience to speak with one of our Identity Care Specialists.

If after business hours, please call 1-888-325-5865. After listening to the message, press 1 on your phone to be transferred to an IDSeal Recovery Specialist.

Please call immediately at 1-888-325-5865 to speak with one of our Identity Care Specialists. In addition, according to the U.S. Attorney General’s Office, the Secret Service oversees identity theft. This office may advise you to:

● Report the crime to the police immediately. Get a copy of your police report or case number. Credit card companies, your bank, and the insurance company may ask you to reference the report to verify the crime.
● Immediately contact your credit card issuers. Get replacement cards with new account numbers and ask that the old account be processed as “account closed at consumer’s request” for credit record purposes. You should also follow up this telephone conversation with a letter to the credit card company that summarizes your request in writing.
● Call the fraud units of the three credit reporting bureaus and ask that your accounts be flagged. Also, add a victim’s statement to your report that requests that they contact you to verify future credit applications.
● Keep a log of all conversations with authorities and financial entities. And follow-up! Make sure that all creditors or credit bureaus have received what they need from you
● Review your reports regularly and make sure all changes you requested have been affected.

Additional information from these government agencies is available here.