Identity Theft: Program Recap

Published on September 24, 2026

According to the Department of Justice’s survey from 2021, over 23 million people in the U.S. experienced identity theft that year with financial losses totaling over $16 billion.

Thank you to Ari Lazarus and Gema De las Heras from the Federal Trade Commission for discussing the different types of identity theft and what you can do if you think you are a victim of identity theft. In 2025, the FTC received 1.3 million identity theft reports with data from previous years suggesting a similar result.  With the pervasiveness of technology in all aspects of our life, it has made stealing identities easier, and harder to track, yet there are some steps you can take to help reduce your risk.  Let’s take a look and see how the FTC can help you.

Types of Identity Theft

Identity theft occurs when someone uses your personal or financial information for financial or other personal gain through fraudulent actions.  The types of information that identity thieves are looking for are name, addresses, birth date, email addresses, account information (medical, financial, government benefits), log in information (usernames, passwords, PINs), and anything else they can use to impersonate you.

Your personal information can be stolen in a variety of ways both on and offline.  Data breeches, phishing scams, and skimming are popular ways to steal your information digitally, but thieves can also get your information through lost cellphones or wallets, stolen mail, and even posing as representatives from legitimate agencies or companies to get a look at your personal information.

You may get emails or text messages that appear to come from legitimate financial institutions or other companies with links to input personal information or attachments that actually contain malware.  Online surveys and even QR codes can hide harmful links in order to steal your information through malware, asking personal information, or leading you to a spoof site. There may be hidden devices in ATMS or credit card readers that can steal the information directly from your card, including your PIN number.  Identity thieves are always evolving and finding new ways to get our information, which means that we must constantly adapt how we use, share, and protect our personal information.

Uses for Information

Identity thieves can use your information for a variety of things, some of which are easily identifiable while others are much harder to detect. They may just want your banking information to buy things (in person or online) or open new lines of credit in your name (credit cards, car loans, bank loans, mortgages). Thieves can also create fraudulent car or home titles, transferring ownership to them without your consent. They may also try to obtain health benefits through your insurance. Your Social Security number can be used to file falsified taxes, claim refunds, apply for employment or steal employment benefits.

“Preventing” Identity Theft

Unfortunately, there is no way to totally protect yourself from identity theft.  However, there are steps we can take to help limit our exposure to identity thieves.  The first and most important thing we need to get into the habit of doing is routinely checking our credit reports and financial statements.  Oftentimes, we won’t know we are a victim until its too late, but the sooner we can identify any issues, the better.  Start by checking your credit report at least once a year; you can obtain your free credit report at annualcreditreport.com and it available once a week.  You can also enroll in fraud alerts or credit freezes for free through the credit bureaus, which will help prevent anyone from opening new lines of credit or attempting to make hard inquiries on your credit.

While online, make sure to set up strong passwords that use lower and uppercase letters, numbers, and symbols.  Try not to use the same password for all of your accounts; easier said than done.  Additionally, try to pick different and more difficult security questions to serve as an additional layer of security.  When available, always enroll in multifactor authentication which will create additional layers of security.  Keep your operating system and security programs up-to-date to deal with the constantly changing ways hackers can get into your devices.  Don’t click on links or open attachments from emails that looks suspicious or are from unknown senders; a good technique is to look closely at the email addresses for subtle typos or hover over a link to see if the actual address that appears looks suspicious.  When in doubt, always contact the company or sender by a verified phone number or email from your credit/debit card or a past statement or bill.

If You’re a Victim…

If you are or even think you have been a victim of identity theft, take action immediately.  Change your passwords and security questions is you personal information has been compromised.  You can fill out an Identity Theft Report from the FTC at IdentityTheft.gov that you can use when communicating with financial institutions and the credit bureaus.  The FTC can also forward this report to other law enforcement agencies and the IRS.   Additionally, IdentityTheft.gov also has checklists and personalized recovery plans that can help you stay on track and guide you throughout the recovery process.

Be sure to document everything and get as much communication as you can in writing, whether it is digitally or through the postal mail.  The more documentation you have, the easier it will be to move forward.  Put a freeze on your credit with all 3 of the credit bureaus and inform them over the phone and in writing of any discrepancies you find on your credit report.  Finally, be patient; it may take a long time to receive responses from financial institutions, law enforcement, or credit bureaus.  It will take even longer to work on restoring your credit or potentially recoup any financial losses.

More Information

If you want to explore more topics related to identity theft, please visit IdentityTheft.gov; there are so many valuable resources compiled by the FTC.  If you have specific questions, please reach out to Ari Lazarus, alazarus@ftc.gov, or Gema De las Heras, gdelasheras@ftc.gov.  You can view a recoding of the webinar at https://youtu.be/oaEI3fqWMJs.  For a list of links to other resources, please down the handout at https://www.njstatelib.org/wp-content/uploads/2026/09/FTC-IDT-presentation-NJ-State-Library-9.24.26.pdf.

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