Identity Theft and Online Fraud

What is Identity Theft?

Identity theft occurs when someone unlawfully obtains your personal information with the intent to commit fraud. Information such as name, date of birth, Social Security number, mother’s maiden name, etc. can help a thief impersonate another individual. Once this person has access to this information, they can commit different kinds of fraud, including accessing bank accounts, obtaining loans, making purchases, etc.

At Iowa Student Loan, we work hard to safeguard your personal information. However, it’s also important that you learn how you can protect yourself from becoming a victim of this crime.

Iowa Student Loan Continually Enhances How We Protect Your Confidentiality

Some examples of what we do include:

• All of our call centers have procedures in place to help validate the identity of callers.
• Ensure that no Social Security numbers are contained in correspondence, unless legally required.
• We conduct regular training with our employees on how to detect fraudulent activities.
• We follow very strict standards that limit access to data and regularly test our security technology.
• All of our Iowa Student Loan vendors that perform necessary services for us are required to sign confidentiality statements that ensure all data is safeguarded.

About Online Fraud

Just like with identity theft, you need to constantly protect yourself from e-mail and Internet fraud. The same way that you would not give your credit card to a person you do not trust, never give your personal contact or account information to a Web site that does not provide a secure encrypted connection.

What to do if you suspect you are a victim

If you suspect a breach of your account with Iowa Student Loan, call our fraud hotline at (800) 507-3814 to report unethical or fraudulent activity.

You can also contact the Federal Trade Commission at (877) IDTHEFT. The FTC maintains a database of identity theft cases used by law enforcement agencies for investigations.

Protect yourself by contacting the fraud departments of the three credit reporting companies to place a fraud alert on your credit report along with other steps.