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What to Do if Your Identity Has Been Stolen

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What to Do if Your Identity Has Been Stolen

Keep a log

In the event of a crime, you need supporting documentation. Take notes of your correspondences, whether by email, phone, or letter. Include names, dates, and contact information. Keep track of your hours and your expenses. You may be able to take a tax deduction on expenses related to theft.

Fill out an identity theft affidavit

Fill out affidavits with the FTC and possibly the IRS.

FTC. The Federal Trade Commission provides an online affidavit. Filling out the form and having it on file at the FTC can help your creditors investigate fraud in your accounts, block it from appearing on your credit report, and prevent companies from collecting debts that are not yours. Mail it in by certified mail with a return receipt, and take a copy of it to your local police station as part of the police report you should file.

You can also call the FTC:

FTC’s Identity Theft Hotline
1-877-ID-THEFT (438-4338) (toll-free)
TTY: 1-866-653-4261

Or write:

Identity Theft Clearinghouse
Federal Trade Commission
600 Pennsylvania Avenue, NW
Washington, DC 20580

IRS. ID theft can also spill over into your taxes if your Social Security number has been stolen and someone has been using it to report income that they have no intention of paying tax on. The IRS provides an ID theft affidavit of its own. You can also contact the IRS at the Identity Protection Specialized Unit at 1-800-908-4490.

Stop payment on checks

For ID theft involving your checks or a checking account, contact your financial institution to report it. Ask them to notify the check verification service that it uses so that it can stop payment on them. It is important that you take these steps as soon as possible, because your liability for unauthorized use of your checking account may be limited, depending on the state you live in. If your ATM card has been compromised, cancel it as soon as you can and get a new one with a new PIN.

The police

Fill out a police report, and include as many details as you can. Make several copies of the report if you are allowed, because you will need them to support your correspondence with creditors and businesses. If the local police won’t help you, file a report with the state police or the state attorney general’s office.

The Post Office

Identity theft can involve the mail, too. Thieves can change your address or get your mail forwarded to them. If you suspect this, contact your local post office.

The Social Security Administration

Your Social Security number is your most valuable asset for an identity thief to steal. If you believe it has been stolen and used to get unauthorized government benefits, contact the Social Security Administration’s inspector general at oig.ssa.gov/ or 1-800-269-0271. Its Website has an online fraud reporting page.

Department of Motor Vehicles

Contact your DMV if you discover that your driver’s license number is being used fraudulently.

Closing accounts

Close any bank or credit union accounts, credit card accounts, or other accounts that have been affected by identity theft or that have recently been opened in your name. In the case of any creditors, ask that the closures be reported as "account closed at consumer’s request." This type of closure will not reflect negatively on your credit report.

Ask for a fraud dispute form from the companies where you are closing accounts. Send it to the address given out for billing inquiries. If they do not have a fraud dispute form, you can use a sample letter form such as the one provided by the Federal Trade Commission.

Debt collectors

Debt collectors may hound you for payment on accounts that thieves opened up in your name. Inform them that you are a victim of ID theft and are therefore not responsible for the bills. Make your notification both in writing and over the phone. In writing, include a copy of a police report. The aim is to convince them beyond doubt that you are telling the truth. The debt collector must then pass this information on to the creditor.

Once you have sent this information in, request information about the debt as well as about the creditor. Ask the debt collector to state in writing that you are not responsible for the debt and that it has been closed. If the debt collector does not cooperate or attempts legal action against you, consider hiring a lawyer to help you.

Credit cards

If your credit cards have been used fraudulently as a result of identity theft, you must contact the issuer to close your accounts. The issuer could be your bank or credit union or a large national institution such as Chase Bank.

You will also need to contact the three major credit bureaus to have fraud alerts issued on them. Their contact information is as follows:

Since fraudulent activity can show up on your credit report, you should get a copy of your credit report from www.annualcreditreport.com and contact the bureaus to dispute it.

More resources

Many resources exist online to help you prevent, understand, and respond to identity theft. Some well-known ones are the Identity Theft Resource Center, the Department of Justice site, and the Federal Trade Commission’s identity theft site. The FBI works with one at www.ic3.gov/default.aspx.