What to Do if You Have Been Phished

  1. Contact each financial institution, credit card issuer or other company that provided the identity thief with unauthorized credit, money, goods or services.
  2. Contact Canada's two national credit reporting agencies, TransUnion Canada and Equifax Canada. There are two things you should do when you call:
    • Ask each agency to send you a copy of your credit report;
    • Discuss whether you should have a fraud alert placed on your file, asking that creditors call you before opening any new accounts or changing your existing accounts.
  3. The credit report may reveal whether there are other companies where the identity thief has opened accounts or incurred debt in your name.
  4. Report the incident to our Campus Community Police Service at 519 661-3300 (or ext. 83300 if you are calling from on campus) and ask them to take a report. If a police report is available, include it in all correspondence with financial institutions, credit issuers, credit reporting agencies and other companies.
  5. If you have been successfully phished and believe that your Western credentials have been compromised, change your password by visiting here: https://wts.uwo.ca/identity/passwords/password_management_tools/changepw.html. You can also visit https://wts.uwo.ca/identity/western_identity_manager/index.html
  6. Report the incident to PhoneBusters National Call Centre toll free at 1-888-495-8501. PhoneBusters gathers information and intelligence about identity theft and provides advice and assistance to victims
  7. If your credit cards or government-issued documents (such as driver's licence, birth certificate or passport) have been lost or stolen, notify the issuing authority immediately to have the document cancelled and a new one issued

Note: Keep a record of your actions, even after the case has been resolved. Errors can reappear on your credit reports or your information can be re-circulated. If this happens, you'll be glad you kept your files. Please see the Government of Ontario Ministry of Government Services site for more information.

Published on  and maintained in Cascade.