Identity Theft Victims: Four Main Steps to Recovery

By On August 27, 2011 · Leave a Comment

A Guide of Government-Recommended Steps to Recovering from Identity Theft

Recovering from having your identity stolen can be a difficult and confusing thing to do. You’ve been victimized, possibly by someone you haven’t met. You’re probably scared and you’ve been forced to become vulnerable. According to the Federal Trades Commission (The FTC), there are four main steps to recovering from Identity theft. It is very important that you keep a record with details on everything you do during this time. Each step will be further explained in other posts throughout this recovery section.

Step 1: Contact a Consumer Reporting Company & Place a Fraud Alert

 By placing a fraud alert on your credit reports, you will be preventing the identity thief from creating any new accounts in your name. There are three consumer reporting companies, but you will only need to contact one. By law, the company is required to contact the other companies and inform them of the fraud alert. After the other companies have been contacted by the first, they will contact you confirming that they’ve placed a fraud alert on your credit reports from them as well. The three companies are:

After placing a fraud alert, you are allowed to receive one free copy of your entire credit report from each company. Do this, and carefully look over each entry. Be sure to check for transactions you don’t recognize, accounts you didn’t create, and any other fraudulent information and have it removed. Also be sure to check that all of your personal information is correct (name, address, social security number, etc.). Make sure to report and fix anything that isn’t correct.

Step 2: Close All Accounts the Thief Used and/or Created Illegally

Call up your bank and/or credit company and cancel and accounts that you believe have been accessed illegally. Ask to speak with someone in the security department. It is very important to close the old account and create a new one, or the identity thief will still have access to your account. Be sure to remember to do the following:

  • When you open a new account, remember to create a new password, Personal Identification Number (PIN), and new security questions/answers. Otherwise, the identity thief would still have all the information needed to use your new account.
  • Look at the old accounts before closing them, and check to see if the identity thief used your money or charged anything by credit. If he/she did, ask for the company’s fraud dispute forms. If the right proof is given, the company should either cancel the transactions (if possible) or not charge you for them.
  • Look to see if any new accounts were created by the thief. If one was, file another report with the police about the newly discovered fraud. After reporting it, obtain a copy of the Identity Theft Report. Give this report to the company that the thief created the new account with. This letter will require the company to stop reporting any information on that account to credit report companies.
  • After all the accounts are closed and all the illegal transactions are discharged be sure to ask for a letter from the company to prove it has all been done. This letter can be used as proof in case an error occurs within the company.

Step 3: File a Complaint with the FTC

 By filing a complaint with the FTC, you will provide additional information that will help the authorities find and catch identity thieves throughout the United States. Not only will your information help them with finding your identity thief, but it will help investigators better understand different ways identity thieves do their “work”. Be sure to print a copy of the complaint to give to your local authorities during step four.

Step 4: File a Report with Your Local Authorities

Call your local authorities and ask to set up a time where you could meet in person and file a report on your identity theft. Make sure you bring the printed copy of your complaint with the FTC, all bank/credit account documents, and any other important documents you received from steps one, two, and three. It is still important to report this “bulk” crime even if you’ve already reported the fake account creation from step two. Be sure to ask for a copy of the final written report.

For More Information on Recovery…

 Here are some links to other information articles on identity theft recovery throughout this website:

 
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