Protecting Your Identity in a Digital World
Technology makes it easier to shop, manage accounts, and stay connected—but it also creates more opportunities for identity theft. Identity theft happens when someone uses your personal or financial information without your permission. Although no precaution can prevent every incident, a few simple habits can help protect you.
Watch for Unexpected Messages
Identity thieves often impersonate financial institutions, government agencies, delivery services, or familiar businesses. They may contact you by phone, email, or text and pressure you to provide personal information or click a link. Do not respond using the contact information provided in an unexpected message. Instead, call the organization using a trusted phone number or visit its official website independently.
Protect Your Accounts and Devices
Use strong, unique passwords for important accounts and enable multifactor authentication whenever possible. Never share a verification code with someone who contacts you. Protect your phone with a strong PIN, fingerprint, or facial recognition, and enable its location, remote-lock, and remote-erase features in case it is lost or stolen.
Shop and Pay Carefully
Scammers can create convincing copies of legitimate websites. Check the complete website address before entering personal or payment information, especially when following an advertisement or social media link. A lock symbol and “HTTPS” show that the connection is encrypted, but they do not guarantee that the website itself is legitimate. Review your accounts regularly and set up alerts for purchases, transfers, login attempts, and password changes.
What to Do if Identity Theft Happens
- Contact the affected financial institution or company immediately. Ask it to secure or close the account and stop unauthorized activity.
- Change compromised passwords and PINs. Also change them anywhere else you used the same credentials.
- Report the identity theft at IdentityTheft.gov. The Federal Trade Commission will provide a personalized recovery plan and an official Identity Theft Report.
- Place a fraud alert or credit freeze and review your credit reports for unfamiliar accounts or inquiries.
- Save copies of reports, statements, emails, letters, and confirmation numbers related to the incident.
- A police report may also be helpful when you know who committed the theft or when a company or credit bureau requests one.
If the incident involves an NDFCU account, debit card, or digital banking access, contact New Dimensions Federal Credit Union immediately at (800) 326-6190 or visit one of our branches.
Being cautious, protecting your devices, and acting quickly when something seems wrong can help limit the damage caused by identity theft.
For more information about Identify Theft and how to report it, please visit: IdentityTheft.gov
For more Fraud Prevention, visit our dedicated Resource Page.