Financial Abuse

If the abuser has access to your credit card statements, Social Security number, or other identifying information, this can make it easier for him/her to open up accounts in your name or access current accounts. If s/he has your children’s Social Security numbers, s/he can even try to open accounts in your children’s names. You might want to consider taking proactive measures to keep your personal information safe. Some actions you can take are to call your bank and credit card companies and ask that they change your account numbers, PIN numbers, passwords, and other access codes. Try to create passwords that would be hard for someone to guess. If you access your bank account through your personal computer or if you store your financial information on your personal computer, make sure you are using a safe computer that the abuser cannot access and has not installed spyware on. To read more about keeping your computer safe, go to our Safety While Using the Internet page. If appropriate and possible, you may want to consider enrolling in a reputable credit protection program through your current credit card company or bank although that may cost money.