How to Fix Identity Theft

You open a letter that informs you that you owe $20,000 in charges on your Chase Visa account, but you don't even have a Chase account. Instead you have just received a warning--you might have joined the 9 million Americans victimized each year by some sort of identify theft. The Federal Trade Commission (FTC), a government body supplying this statistic, recommends that you immediately take certain steps to fix the effects of the identity theft and the damage it did to your reputation and finances.

Instructions

1

Change all your online passwords and block bank accounts that you believe may have fallen victim to an identity theft.

2

Contact one of the major credit reporting agencies: Experian, Equifax or TransUnion. Request that a fraud alert placed on your credit report, notifying potential creditors of this status. It doesn't matter which agency you contact: the first will relay your request to the others.

3

Obtain a credit report from each of the three main credit reporting agencies. Placing a fraud alert on your file entitles you to a free report.

4

Review the credit reports you receive carefully. Determine the new accounts that you did not establish, any changes to your accounts you did not make, and any inaccurate personal information.

5

File a complaint with the Federal Trade Commission, an agency charged with helping identity theft victims. Your FTC ID Theft Complaint will help prevent others from being victimized by the same crime. In addition, it will also be able to use this complaint to help you prove that you are an identity theft victim.

6

File a crime report with a local police department. Define all fraudulent data that you found in your credit report. Provide the police with a copy of your FTC ID Theft Complaint. Get a copy of the Identity Theft Report you file with the police department.

7

Notify all three credit reporting agencies of the fraudulent data in your credit report. Attach a copy of the Identity Theft Report you filed with the police department. If you include this document, it will force the credit reporting agencies not to add fraudulent data to your credit report. In addition, it also lets you set a more extended fraud alert on your report that will be valid for seven years.

8

Notify all of the creditors whose listing in your report includes any fraudulent charges. Locating thieves may add charges to accounts that you have established yourself. Contact creditors first using a telephone, then follow up with a certified letter that includes a copy of your Identity Theft Report. Also, obtain a written report from each creditor after the account is cleared.