What to Do if You Have Been Phished
- Contact each financial institution, credit card issuer or other company that provided the identity thief with unauthorized credit, money, goods or services.
- 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.
- The credit report may reveal whether there are other companies where the identity thief has opened accounts or incurred debt in your name.
- 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.
- 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
- 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
- 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.