My Husband's Identity Was Stolen... Now What?

Early this spring, we got a suspicious bank notice.

It immediately sparked a red-flag because the notice was from a bank, but not our bank. It was even more mysterious because my husband, Nate, works in banking, and this notice was not from his bank. The notice stated that we recently opened accounts in his name, and to activate the new debit card with the provided PIN number. We looked over the letter, confirmed the phone numbers and addresses for the bank provided in the letter matched the contact information listed on their website online, and immediately called the bank. What we found was this: someone had used Nate’s contact information, date of birth and social security number to open bank accounts at a regional bank. They filled out and submitted the application with a phony driver’s license through a drive-through ATM.

What we found out later was that not only had someone opened accounts in his name, but this individual (or more likely, a sophisticated group of individuals) used these accounts to establish credit at other institutions, like cell phone and internet providers and retail stores. What was a normal Thursday night turned into days of uncovering an identity theft scheme, resulting in thousands of dollars in credit card bills, all in my husband’s name.

Now, this sounds like an awful and scary story, and it is. However, Nate and I both work in financial services and are, luckily, well versed in how to handle situations of identity theft. I believe our quick and reasonable actions led to a relatively happy ending, with the situation being resolved in a matter of days without his or I’s credit being negatively impacted. Here’s what we did:

1. Upon receiving the initial bank notice, we searched online for the bank’s contact information and called that number to confirm the legitimacy of the notice. We wanted to call a verified phone number from a search engine where we knew the number we were calling was legitimate. If you receive any communication that might be suspicious, it’s best to go online and determine that the number you’re calling is correct.

2. We asked detailed questions about the fraudulent accounts. What day and time was the application received? Which location, online or in person? Is there video footage of this occurring? By asking these questions, we found a lot more information about the fraudulent parties, including that the application was received locally in Des Moines. We were able to use this information to then...

3. File a police report. This step is important because it provides you with a Case ID that you can refer to as fraudulent accounts pop up. After initially closing the fraudulent bank accounts, we started to receive bills from companies the criminals opened in Nate’s name. If any of these companies had questions about our authenticity, the police report case ID was nice to have as a form of verification that we were, in fact, who we said we were.

4. Nate froze his credit at all three credit bureaus. This is probably the most important step to take. If you have a confirmed case of identity theft, it’s important to freeze your credit to put a stop to any further credit applications. The three credit bureaus are Equifax, Experian and TransUnion.

Now, since I’m my husband’s financial advisor and he’s my banker, we didn't call our financial institutions and let them know of our troubles. However, I always recommend informing your financial team (me!) so we can keep a closer eye on your accounts and inform Charles Schwab. After completing these steps, we were diligent about checking our mail and finding any odd bills or statements that we weren’t aware of. If we received a bill we weren’t expecting, we immediately called the companies, informed them of the situation and provided the case ID for the police report, if needed. All accounts were promptly closed without much issue, and any hits to our credit were corrected upon account closures.

Identity theft criminals are getting more and more sophisticated, so if you find yourself in a situation where you are a victim, don’t be too hard on yourself. Even financial professionals, like my husband, can fall victim. In this day in age of AI and cyber criminals, almost everyone can expect it to happen at some point. However, taking swift actions such as these can be very helpful in minimizing your exposure to the consequences of identity theft.