Identity Theft
IDTheftSmart
Identity theft is a crime. It occurs when someone invades your life by taking pieces of your personal identifying information and assumes it as his/her own, causing damage to your credit and your name. Identity theft comes in many varieties, including theft of a Social Security number, credit card number, debit card, or other illegal assumptions of or obtaining false credit to your name.
At Malvern Bank, we care about our customers protecting their identities. That’s why we offer IDTheftSmart, a program that helps protect your identity by teaching you ways to detect fraud and better safeguard your identity. Just some of the programs benefits include:
- Safety guidelines for communicating and interacting online
- Help interpreting and analyzing your credit report
- Fraud alert assistance
- Consultation on best practices for managing personal identifying information
If you suspect that you are a victim of identity theft, the program provides you with assistance in confirming if the fraud is real. A licensed private investigator will work on your behalf until all issues have been verifiably resolved.
If you are interested in learning more about this service, please contact us at 712-624-8686.
FTC Tools
The Federal Trade Commission (FTC) has published a tool to help you report and recover quickly from identity theft. It includes:
- A personal recovery plan
- Pre-filled letters to send to merchants, banks, and others affected by the identity theft
- An “Identity Theft Report,” which is your official statement about the crime
This tool is to help you report fraud quickly directly to the people that can help you best. Still contact your local police if:
- You know the identity thief, or have other information that could help a police investigation
- An identity thief used your name in a traffic stop or any encounter with police
- A creditor, debt collector, or someone else affected by the identity theft insists that you produce a police report.
The tool is available at IdentityTheft.gov.
To learn more about identity theft, browse the FTC’s recovery steps, or visit their Privacy and Identity page for prevention tips.