Yesterday marked the beginning of National Protect Your Identity Week, sponsored by the Better Business Bureau and National Foundation for Credit Counseling. Identity theft prevention and resolution is something we live with every day here at Europ Assistance USA while protecting and assisting some of the 10 million Americans victimized each year. We provide ongoing protection to our customers and help them straighten out any damages that occur if they do fall prey to one of the fastest growing crimes around.
All this week, we’ll highlight a different kind of identity theft situation — how it happened and what was at risk, as well as how we were able to help alleviate some of the pain and protect the customer moving forward.
Today, we’re highlighting a story about a customer who discovered fraudulent charges on his credit card, which is unfortunately a pretty common occurrence many of us have or will likely experience.
One day last year, a call came into our 24/7 assistance center from a Nationwide Insurance agent on behalf of a customer who has Nationwide’s Identity Theft Coverage provided by Europ Assistance. The customer found a $140 fraudulent charge on his credit card and as is often the case, the customer had no idea how his credit card information had been compromised.
Our ID Theft Resolution Specialist provided preventative information to the customer, including an explanation about fraud alerts, opt-out services, credit monitoring and a detailed walk-through of the Identity Theft Resolution Kit. We also explained the Authorization and Affidavit forms the customer would need to complete to initiate the resolution process.
After that initial call, we immediately sent the Identity Theft Resolution Kit, Authorization and Affidavit forms to him. Once the completed forms were returned, we took the following measures on his behalf:
- Placed 7-year fraud alert on his credit report
- Opted him out of credit card offers for 5 years
- Filed a complaint with the FTC
- Enrolled him in identity tracking
- Contacted the creditor to dispute the fraudulent charge on his credit card
The customer was then provided a copy of his credit report to review for any additional fraud. Once resolved, the fraudulent charge was removed from the credit card and proactive measures were taken to prevent him from incurring additional damage.
This is just one of many common ways people fall prey to identity theft, and how EA USA can help them if they do.
It also points to why it’s so important to check your credit card statements carefully and regularly. If you can access your account online, you should do so regularly instead of waiting until after you receive a monthly statement, especially if you’ve been traveling recently since that can often open you up to potential identity theft by virtue of the number of unfamiliar places you are using your credit card (e.g. taxis, hotel networks, etc.).
Tomorrow, we’ll share another customer story of ID theft.
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