Protect yourself from identity theft

BUFFALO, N.Y. (WIVB) - More and more people are using credit cards to pay for everyday items, which means, more and more people are having their credit cards or identities stolen. We've complied data from the Better Business Bureau, the state Attorney General's office and Javelin Strategy & Research to keep you better protected and more informed on credit card safety.

First things first, always monitor your credit card accounts. Whether online or in paper form, make sure you're looking at your statements each month. If you do notice strange or fraudulent charges, the more quickly you take action, the more quickly you will see results.

According to the state Attorney General's office, your liability changes the longer you wait to report your card. If you report within two business days of your card being lost, liability for unauthorized debits is limited to $50. Liability increases to $500 for reporting a lost card within 60 days. If you wait any longer than that, your liability could be unlimited. For more information from the state Attorney General's office, click  here .

According to the Javelin Strategy & Research, identity fraud is increasing yearly. In 2011, more than 11.6 million adults were victims of identity fraud. Javelin says social media and mobile phone use is driving up identity theft. It says consumers share too much information that others can use to authenticate a consumer's identity. Things like your birthday, or your address, or your pet's name that Javelin says 68% of people share on social media websites, can be used to steal identities. Smartphone users are especially at risk for identity theft. Javelin says there is 1/3 higher incidence rate compared to the general public. Those who don't password protect their phones are at higher risk for having their information stolen.

To read more from Javelin Strategy & Research, click here .

If your identity is stolen these are the steps you should be taking (according to the BBB) immediately after noticing the charges:

Step One: Contact the Issuer.
Credit card issuers typically have a 24-hour hotline for consumers to report fraud and theft. By law, a consumer’s maximum liability is $50 per credit card; once they have reported a loss or theft of a credit card to the issuer, consumers have no further responsibility for unauthorized charges. If the fraud involves a person’s credit card number, but not the card itself, the consumer has no liability for unauthorized use. If an ATM or debit card is lost or stolen, the amount of money someone could lose depends on how quickly they alert the issuer – if they wait too long, they could lose everything in the account.

Step Two: Contact the Authorities.
If a credit or debit card has been stolen or if the consumer has noticed fraudulent charges on their account, they can file a report with the local police. The consumer will want to get a copy of the police report to confirm the nature of the fraudulent charges with the issuer and the credit reporting bureaus, and should file reports with the Federal Trade Commission .

Step Three: Contact Credit Reporting Bureaus.
There are three credit bureaus that monitor activity on consumer credit accounts: Equifax, Experian, and TransUnion. The three bureaus can flag, or place an alert on an account for fraudulent activity, which then requires that they contact the cardholder before any new lines of credit are opened. Consumers can also ask to have an account frozen – which means their credit history can’t be reviewed by lenders and prevents new lines of credit from being opened – but keep in mind it may take several days to unfreeze accounts in the future.

For more information from the Better Business Bureau, including how to contact Equifax, Experian, and TransUnion, click here .