Source: Extreme close up of part of a credit card with shallow depth of field. Account number changed for security
CHICAGO — Identity theft remains a common problem that Hoosiers and other people around the Midwest are facing every year.
Already as we exit the first month of 2024, the Federal Trade Commission has received over a thousand reports of identity theft by Hoosiers. It once again has the FTC reminding you of ways that you can prevent it from happening to you.
“This is one of the top issues reported to us from folks in Indiana,” said Joannie Wei, the assistant director of the FTC’s Midwest Region Office in Chicago.
She said there are many ways you can become a victim of identity theft. The most common is still credit card fraud where scammers and thieves get ahold of your credit card information and use it to open new accounts in your name or to simply spend money.
But Wei said a growing new trend with identity thieves has been “loan and lease fraud” where they will steal your identity and then use your information to apply for a small business or personal loan in your name.