What to Do When Identity is Stolen – Step by Step Guide

What You Should Do When Identity is Stolen

When you suspect that your identity has been stolen, there are several things that you should do. You must act very fast so as to minimize the damages that may be incurred from identity theft.

Step 1 – The very first thing you should do is to contact the major credit bureaus. You should call or visit the websites of one of the major credit bureaus:

• Equifax
• Experian
• TransUnion

Ask them to issue a fraud alert and attach a statement of your credit report. The bureau you contact usually informs the other two and place an alert on their versions of your credit report. Once the fraud alert has been placed, you are at liberty to ask for free copies of your credit report.

Step 2 – The second thing that you should do when your identity is stolen is to review the credit reports thoroughly. Ensure that all your personal information is correct and that there are no fraudulent accounts or inquires. Look for accounts you have not applied for or opened, and keep a log of all law enforcement agents that you contact.

Thereafter, you should close any account you find or believe to have been interfered with or opened fraudulently. You should do this by calling your credit company and following up in writing. Once they confirm that the accounts have been closed, you should ask for a letter confirming the closure of the accounts. This letter can help you later if errors relating to those accounts reappear on your credit report.

Step 3 – Thirdly, you should report the crime to your local police or to the police departments where the crime happened if it’s somewhere else other than where you live. Make sure you get a copy of the police report or at least the report’s number. This might be useful in case the creditor asks for proof that the crime actually happened.

Step 4 – The fourth action you should take is to fill out an identity theft victim’s complaint and affidavit from the Federal Trade Commission.

Although this commission does not investigate identity theft cases, they share such cases with investigators fighting these crimes all over the country. You should retain a copy of this for the creditor to investigate your claim. This report can also help you if you’ like to request copies of the application and transaction records.

Step 5 – The next step you should take is to contact debtors who might come calling from debts incurred through fraudulent activities. Inform them by phone and in writing that you are a victim of identity theft, and that you are not to blame for the unpaid bill. In your letter, you should include copies of your police report and Federal Trade Commission affidavit.

As a result, the debtor from those fraudulent activities informs the creditor or the person attempting to collect the debt. The debt collector should also send a valid debt report to you. You should ask the collector to give you details relating to both the collector and the creditor.

Step 6 – After all that, you should then stay alert by continuing to monitor your credit reports since the problems might recur. You should change all of your online accounts to have a completely new password which should be hard to guess and unique to each and every site. You should avoid names such as a family member’s name, your birth date, or your phone numbers.

Step 7 – Consider an identity protection service, such as LifeLock.com or other similar service. Feel free to read our LifeLock.com review and find out more for yourself. Good luck, stay safe, and I hope you’ve found our guide for what to do when your identity is stolen helpful.