Recovering From Identity Theft
What to Do Once You’ve Been the Victim of Identity Theft
One minute you’re minding your own business and your world is calm and serene. The next minute everything is chaos and you don’t know up from down because someone just stole your identity. You’re not alone. Thousands of people find themselves the unwilling victims of identity theft and thousands feel the helpless feeling you’re feeling right now. So what do you do and who do you turn to? Read on.
File a Police Report
First things first – you’re going to need to file a police report. Some of your creditors are going to want to see proof that you are actually indeed the victim of identity theft, so you’re definitely going to want to have that police report handy.
File a Compliant with the FTC
After you file a police report, you’re going to want to file a complaint with the Federal Trade Commission. The FTC investigates cases of identity theft and if the criminal has had more than one victim, the FTC will be able to put the pieces of the puzzle together.
Contact One of the Three Credit Bureaus
In addition to filing complaints with the proper authorities, you’re going to want to contact one of the three credit bureaus to have a fraud alert placed on your credit reports. You do not need to contact all three credit bureaus. Once you file a fraud alert with one credit bureau, it will automatically go on your other two credit files.
Get a Copy of Your Credit Report
In addition to putting a fraud alert on your credit file, you’re going to want to look at a copy of your credit report. Examine everything on your credit report. If there are any unauthorized accounts that are open, close the accounts and show the creditors a copy of your police report so they understand that you’ve been the victim of identity theft.
Contact ChexSystems
If someone has been opening credit accounts in your name, they may very well have opened a checking account in your name. Contact ChexSystems and let them know that you’ve been the victim of identity theft. Find out if you’ve been reported for account abuse.
It won’t be easy to put the pieces back together after being the victim of identity theft, but you will put the pieces back together, slowly but surely.