The definitions vary but generally, identity theft is described as "Obtaining or using someone's personal information without their consent or in a fraudulent manner for economic gain or other purposes."

Your personal information includes your name, date of birth, address, social insurance number, credit card number and any other means of identifying you. Although credit and debit card fraud are the most common form of identity theft, the threat is much broader from using your phone number to making unauthorized long distance calls, to opening bank, Internet or mortgage accounts in your name and not paying the bills.

Restoring your identity and credit rating can take months or even years and cost you thousands of dollars. Protecting yourself against ID theft begins with knowledge of how it happens, how to prevent it, and how to deal with it if you do become a victim.

Yes. The information provided on our site is general in nature and may not apply to your specific situation. Our trained specialists can ask you the questions required to understand your specific needs.

Yes. Licensed investigators will assist in confirming that identity theft has actually occurred.

You will be speaking with a trained professional who will conduct a brief telephone interview to determine the details of your particular situation. From there we will connect you with a licensed investigator who will be your personal contact throughout the case.

Restoring your affairs to their proper state is a complex and time consuming process. At your option, IDefence investigators will take the lead and guide you through the entire process, representing you where possible with outside parties such as credit agencies and creditors. They will also collect the paperwork that needs to be completed and answer any questions you may have in this regard. In short, they will save you time while providing the peace of mind that comes with knowing this critical process is being handled properly.

IDefence Card Monitoring uses advanced proprietary technology to scan billions of Internet records in real-time. If any of your registered debit or credit card numbers are discovered, you will be notified via email within 24 hours.

To sign up, you will require an Access Code. This Access Code will be used one time, during the initial sign up process. Once you've signed up, you'll be able to register up to 10 credit or debit cards for the service. If you do not have an Access Code, please call 1-866-323-7187 to speak with a membership services representative.

You'll be able to register up to 10 debit or credit cards.

For credit cards, we only ask for the 16 digits, not the expiration date nor the security number (CCN number) on the back of the card. Without this information no one can use your card. The same holds true for debit cards. We only ask for your card number and not your PIN. We are simply monitoring the card numbers.

We take two important measures to protect your information:

Customer information is stored on a secure server that is firewall-protected and encrypted to block unauthorized third party access.

We also restrict downloading of any data on our secure servers to unsecured locations, such as a laptop. Our site is encrypted and protected with industry-standard SSL encryption software. Our site is also certified and regularly scanned by ControlScan to protect against hacker attacks for over 11,500 known website security vulnerabilities. All sensitive information is encrypted prior to storing it in our databases.

If one of your registered card numbers is discovered, an email notification will be sent to you immediately and we will also attempt to contact you by phone. Please note that the email notification/phone call will be made based on the information in your profile. It is important to keep this information up-to-date.

In addition to receiving an email notification, we will attempt to phone you directly to provide details of the compromised card and to determine whether or not further action needs to be taken. If we miss you, we'll leave a phone number for you to call us back.

When you login to your personal account on the IDefence Card Monitoring website, you can check the status of each of your registered cards by clicking on the "Status" button. Look for the status indicator in the left hand column of each card you registered. If the status indicator shows "inactive", you can change the status to "active" by clicking the button marked "enable". To change the status from "active" to "inactive", click the button marked "Disable".

Actually, once you have entered the information you would like us to monitor, you do not need to login unless you want to update your card numbers or contact information. If any of your registered card numbers appear to be compromised, we will automatically contact you.

Visit our Resource Centre where you'll find information and tips on steps you can take to safeguard your identity.

CreditDefend is the daily monitoring of your credit file in order to detect any significant changes to your credit file.

CreditDefend helps you detect any suspicious activity or changes to your Credit Report, by providing immediate alerts when any of the following information in your Credit Report changes:

• Address Change: To alert you if the address on file is reported as changed. The address is deemed to have changed if there is more or less information than previous in the address line. For example, if there is a change in Postal Code or in city.
• New Inquiry: To alert you if a lender has obtained a copy of your Credit Report in order to evaluate an application for credit made in your name.
• Name Change: To alert you if there has been a name change registered to your credit file. This is indicated by a change in the last name or first character of your first name.
• New Trade added: To alert you that a new debt obligation has been opened in your name within the last 3 months since you registered for monitoring services.
• New Collection Item: To alert you if a debt obligation has been classified as in collections for an amount of at least $200. This amount can be paid or unpaid or both.
• New Bankruptcy added: To alert you that a bankruptcy has been added to your Credit Report during the last 4 months. This is important as bankruptcies will lower your credit rating and your eligibility to borrow at favorable interest rates in the future.
• Derogatory added: To alert you of a foreclosure, judgment or garnishment public record within the last 3 months.

A Credit Report is a report that a prospective lender or employer obtains from a consumer reporting agency that displays the manner in which a consumer has met his or her past credit obligations. It is used to help determine creditworthiness of the potential borrower or to confirm identity of an individual.

Your Credit Report will show:

• All your credit accounts with financial institutions, credit card issuers, retailers and other lenders and the related information and payment history
• Your known name and any aliases, social insurance number, date of birth, current and past addresses, and employer information
• All public record information, (bankruptcy, tax liens, monetary judgments, etc...) and recent inquiries. Names of companies who requested a copy of your Credit Report will also appear on your Credit Report
• Information about any involvement regarding a collection agency's attempt at settling any debts

Credit information is gathered by Credit Reporting agencies, sometimes called credit bureaus - Equifax and TransUnion. They store and maintain credit information about individual Canadians for use by members of the Credit Reporting agency.

These members include banks, financing companies, auto leasing companies, credit card companies, retailers, etc... Credit grantors update individual Credit Reports regularly by providing information to Credit Reporting agencies about their customers... credit and payment activities. This ensures that Credit Reports remain up to date and as complete as possible. Other sources of information contained in your Credit Report include collection agencies and public records from courthouses across the country. Information will also be added to your file if you make or miss any payments.

Copies of your Credit Report can only be obtained by an individual or company with your consent, or by advising you that they will be reviewing your file. A company must have a legitimate business reason and a permissible purpose to obtain your Credit Report. When you apply for a loan or credit card you are usually asked to complete and sign an application form. The application normally includes written consent that gives permission to the credit grantor to check your Credit Report when you first apply and for as long as the account is open.

A Credit Score or Credit Rating is drawn from information provided on the Credit Report. Typically, a higher Credit Score implies better credit worthiness (which can positively influence your eligibility for a loan, and can possibly reduce your borrowing costs).

No, CreditDefend does not affect your Credit Score. Because you are accessing your own reports through the monitoring service, the resulting inquiry will be shown only to you, no one else. You can feel confident that CreditDefend will monitor your Credit Score without any negative affect to your credit rating.