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Protecting Your Identity
How Do I Protect Myself?
  • Protect your personal information, including your social security number and your mother’s maiden name.
  • Never give personal information over the telephone unless you initiate the call.
  • Never respond to e-mail requesting personal information or open e-mail attachments unless you know who sent them.
  • Choose strong passwords and change them often.
  • Use software to protect your computer from viruses and spies.
  • Shop online only at reputable, secure websites.
  • Be leery of online and offline sweepstakes, contests and giveaways.
  • Do not post identifying information about you or your family on your personal web page.
  • Shred important documents before discarding.
  • Check your credit at least once a year.

identityHow Do I Find Out if Someone is Using my Identity?

1. Go to www.annual
creditreport.com to find out. A free copy of your credit report is available once a year.
2. Students who have not used their social security numbers to obtain credit should have no credit report.
3. If a student does have a credit report, aliases, incorrect residential addresses and unauthorized accounts are indicators of identity theft.
4. You may also be a victim of identity theft if you find unauthorized charges on your credit card statement, unauthorized withdrawals on your bank accounts, or unauthorized long-distance calls on your phone bill.

Why Would Someone Want to Steal My Identity?
Criminals seek teen identities because the theft can go undetected for years. A teen’s credit sits unused until he or she is old enough to obtain a credit card or a consumer loan. A criminal steals a teen’s social security number, impersonates the teen to obtain credit cards and loans, and does not make payments, resulting in a low credit rating. The fraud often goes undetected until the student attempts to use obtain credit.

What do I do if I am a Victim of Identity Theft?

1. File a police complaint.

2. Contact the credit reporting agencies www.experian.com, www.equifax.com, www.transunion.com to place fraud alerts on your accounts and analyze credit reports.

3. Place the passwords for your bank and credit card accounts on hold.

4. Contact the Federal Trade Commission at www.FTC.com to register a complaint and fill out an ID Theft Affidavit.

5. Secure the future flow of your personal information.


This guide is an introduction to narrow topics of Nevada law. Keep in mind that federal, state and local laws are constantly subject to change. If you have a legal question or problem, you should consult an attorney.