What do credit cards, debit cards, loans, and even social media accounts have in common? Each type of account tempts hackers who want to steal your money, credit score, reputation, and identity. Monitoring your accounts can help catch breaches before they balloon. If unauthorized activity does occur, follow these steps to lock out crooks, restore your funds, and reclaim your privacy.
If you catch on fire, you should “stop, drop, and roll” to put out the flames, protect yourself, and keep the inferno from spreading. When you realize a crook has meddled with your accounts — financial, social, or otherwise — your reaction should be just as swift.
In the case of unauthorized activity in an account, remember this technique: spot, freeze, and fix.
Unauthorized credit card activity
Between physical theft, data breaches, phishing, and malware, bad guys can access your financial information in many ways.
Spotting unauthorized credit card activity
To stay on top of things, self-policing remains a strong way to detect unauthorized and suspicious activity.
Make it a habit to review your statements, balances, and receipts each week. As you police your accounts, look for:
Purchases and charges you never made
Merchants with whom you’ve never shopped
Store locations you’ve never encountered
Cash advance withdrawals you didn’t make
Multiple, separate charges for an item you bought only once
Service fees you don’t recognize and can’t trace back
Missing refund credit for items you returned
Subscriptions or recurring fees you don’t recognize or didn’t approve
Declined transactions due to credit limits you never reached
Resolving unauthorized credit card activity
If any of these unauthorized credit card activities sound familiar, follow our step-by-step guide to put out the immediate fire and then address lingering issues.
If you have your card, call the fraud and/or customer service number on the back to place a freeze on your account and cancel the card. You may be able to freeze the card via the company’s app, but we recommend also following up with a call to the institution afterward to ensure the freeze went through. Ask the customer service rep to confirm you canceled the card and its associated account and ask them to walk you through their institution's unique steps to dispute any unauthorized activity and related fees. If your physical card has been stolen or lost, find the institution's customer service number on their official website (beware of phishing sites).
Order a new card and update any associated accounts that drew on the old card, like utilities, streaming services, subscriptions, and more.
File a report of the fraud with both the Federal Trade Commission (FTC) and Better Business Bureau (BBB). Follow the FTC’s prompts and download a copy of that report for your records and use the BBB's scam tracker to report the scam. Then, follow the merchant's procedure for sharing the incident report; some companies require you to mail or fax the report, or upload it to a website.
Contact credit report bureaus to sound the alarm on the unauthorized activity. For extra protection, consider filing for an extended fraud alert or credit freeze with each agency (Experian, TransUnion, Equifax). The FTC offers template letters to share with the credit auditing companies and lists what documentation to include with the letter.
Beef up your overall financial security practices. Change your online and app logins, passwords, and PINs. Then, enable multi-factor authentication at your account login. Continue monitoring your account and reviewing your statements plus set alerts that let you know whenever a new charge appears.
Why should I call a lender and mail them records when I can report everything online?
Chatbots and contact forms work well for many things. Still, they often can’t digest complicated situations, sympathize with all the worries of a customer with a compromised account, or provide fail-safe attention to your crisis.
Always call to report fraud and follow up in writing. The best defense for an airtight unauthorized activity dispute is a good offense.
Unauthorized bank account activity
Most credit card companies assume total liability for unauthorized and disputed charges if it’s reported in a reasonable timeframe; cardholders typically pay for nothing after reporting fraudulent activity.
Banks, however, operate differently. If fraud occurs on a bank-issued debit card or via a check, the account holder can be on the hook for the charges. Bank accounts are subject to strict federal accountability guidelines, so it’s important to act fast if you see unauthorized activity on your bank account.
Spotting unauthorized bank account activity
Signs of a compromised bank account include:
Your debit card getting rejected when you hand it over to a vendor or a check getting denied at the point of purchase
Service being suspended for auto-drafted accounts, like streaming services, subscriptions, and essentials like your Wi-Fi, cell phone, and water
Bounced checks, overdraw fees, and minimum balance charges on your monthly statement
Services, items, and fees you can’t account for on your monthly statement
Double or triple charges for a single item
Resolving unauthorized bank account activity
The steps you take to address unauthorized activity with your debit card and/or bank account(s) are the same as those you take to address credit card fraud.
The main difference is the necessity for speed regarding banks. The sooner you report debit card and/or bank fraud, the less money you’re likely to lose.
Unauthorized loan activity
Criminals who steal your personal information may use your hard-earned credit rating and financial accounts to get car loans, mortgages, business loans, and more. Often, they’ll cash out and move on, leaving you to pay back the lender.
In 2023, over 172,000 people filed loan fraud reports with the FTC, and that represents only a fraction of the scamming that actually occurred. Types of loan scams vary, including:
Mortgage loan fraud: Mortgage fraud can be as simple as taking out a loan in your name and pocketing the money. Or it can be as complicated as a trio of crooks posing as a realtor, a buyer, and an inspector to get a home loan and make off with the cash.
Auto loan fraud: A thief purchases a car with a loan in your name, drives off, and sells the vehicle (or simply makes off with the loaned money).
Payday advance loan fraud: Using your information, a thief gets a cash advance based on your regular paycheck.
Small Business Administration (SBA) loan fraud: A thief uses your personal information to pose as and secures a government-backed business loan via the federal SBA.
Spotting unauthorized loan activity
While the type of loan theft may vary, telltale signs you’ve been scammed are the same.
You receive an alert noting a credit inquiry has been made in your report, even though you’re not applying for a loan
Collection agencies contact you for unfamiliar debts
An onslaught of unsolicited loan and credit offers arrive in your mailboxes (virtual and actual)
Your credit score drops unexpectedly
Resolving unauthorized loan activity
The steps you take to address unauthorized loan activity are the same as those to address credit card fraud or unauthorized bank account activity. Dispute any unauthorized activity and related fees with the fraud and/or customer service department of the lender associated with the loan.
Two types of loans, however, require a few additional, specialized steps.
SBA loan fraud: In the case of SBA loan fraud, first contact the lender associated with the loan to report the fraud and ask how to clear your name and credit report. Next, file an identity theft report with the FTC. After you have the FTC report, register your complaint with the Office of the Inspector General (OIG) of the Small Business Administration via the SBA hotline at (800) 767-0385. Email them at answerdesk@sba.gov, and then follow the agency's steps in their response.
Student loan fraud: Typically, school loan fraud entails a student with an existing loan who is offered bogus debt forgiveness or debt consolidation for a fee that the scammer then pockets. After reporting that fraud to the FTC and the Better Business Bureau, contact the U.S. Department of Education and file a complaint. If, however, someone gets a student loan in your name, contact the lender and educational institution associated with the loan. Ask each group to walk you through their unique fraud recovery steps. If they obtain a federal student loan in your name, also contact the Office of the Inspector General of the U.S. Department of Education.
Unauthorized social media activity
Hacked social media accounts can affect much more than your reputation. Aside from character impersonation, a bad actor might take over your account to:
Steal your personal information to sell or use in identity theft
Install malware and viruses
Take your account hostage in exchange for a release fee
Gain access to those in your social network to hack their accounts
Send phishing and spam messages to those in your social network
Spotting unauthorized social media activity
A hacked social media account can give itself away in obvious and not-so-obvious ways. Your account is likely compromised if:
You can’t log in to your account or you’re locked out
Messages you never wrote populate your sent folders
Posts you never published appear in your feed
Your account appears to like/dislike, forward, and publish posts on its own
New contacts and new follows crop up in your account
Resolving unauthorized social media activity
Fortunately, social media companies give users a direct path to fix any compromised account. Unlike the other types of unauthorized activity, hacked social media accounts can be righted online rather than over the phone or via mail.
Each major social network offers step-by-step instructions on how to reclaim and repair your account:
In addition to resetting your social media account, it’s wise to also:
Change your passwords for the email account connected to the social account
Enable multi-factor identification across the board
Examine your financial accounts for signs of hacking
Monitor your credit score and review your credit report
Using these tips, you will be able to spot, freeze, and fix unauthorized activity, minimizing any damage to your reputation, finances, or credit report.
