Identity Theft Help & Information

Identity theft occurs when someone uses your personal information and assumes your identity. Identity theft can take many forms such as someone making purchases on one of your credit cards to opening an account in your name. If you find that you are the victim of an identity theft, you can take steps to reclaim your identity.

Identifying Crime

Many times, one of the problems that people have with identity theft is finding out that they have become a victim. To determine if you have been the victim of identity theft, you may need to look at a copy of your credit report. This way, you can identify of any accounts have been opened in your name or if there are any unusual purchases on your credit cards. If you are notified of purchases that you did not make, this should tip you off that you have become a victim.

Fraud Alert

When you believe that you are the victim of an identity theft, you need to place a fraud alert on your accounts. You can do this by contacting the credit bureaus and asking them to initiate a fraud alert. When you have a fraud alert on your account, it will be very difficult for the identity thief to continue using your information. Every time you try to obtain credit during the alert, your personal information will be verified.

Filing Reports

Once you have confirmed that you have been the victim of an identity theft, you need to file reports with the appropriate agencies. You should file a complaint with the Federal Trade Commission as the agency investigates identity thefts and help consumers. You should also file a report with your local police station. While the local police may not be able to solve the crime, the FTC can file a report that allows you to show that you are actively trying to fix the problem.

Preventing Access

When you become the victim of an identity theft, it can be very difficult to put your financial life back together again. The best approach is to try to avoid being taken advantage of in the first place. To help avoid identity theft, you need to safeguard your personal information. Do not give out your Social Security number randomly to anyone who asks for it. Shred your personal documents so that identity thieves cannot access your information from the trash.