Protecting Yourself After Identity Theft

With so many stories about how to prevent identity theft, credit card fraud, and general credit card thievery being in the news lately, I thought it would be helpful to review a few of the steps you should take AFTER you suspect that you may have been victimized by identity theft

First, be certain to close any suspicious account immediately. Then, file a report with the police and send a copy of the report to all of your creditors. After contacting the creditors directly, contact the three major credit bureaus and ask them to put a fraud alert on your credit file. This will help prevent other fraudulent accounts from being opened in your name.

To assist you with catching the thief and to prevent others from being victimized, file a complaint with the Federal Trade Commission. You can do this quickly and easily by visiting www.consumer.gov/idtheft or you can call them toll-free at 877-IDTHEFT). After contacting the FTC, your case will be added to a database containing information about other identity thefts and can be used by law enforcement agencies in their continued investigations.

After making all of the necessary contacts and filing the proper reports, it is a good idea to request a free credit report from all three of the credit bureaus. As mentioned in previous posts, it is a good idea to request a report every year even if you do not suspect that your finances have been tampered with. You can receive a free report by visiting www.annualcreditreport.com, or you can call. Of course, if you have been the victim of identity theft, it is even more important.

If you find any mistakes or suspicious activity on your credit report, send a letter to the credit bureaus as well as copies of any supporting documents that you may have. That way, the erroneous information can be corrected and you can get your credit back on track again.

Related Posts:

• Take Action When Handling Identity Theft - Do you have reason to believe that you have become the victim of identity theft?  If so, it is important for you...
• Immediate Steps To Take for Identity Theft - If you suspect that you just might be the victim of identity theft, time is of the essence. It’s important for you...
• Four Steps to Protecting Your Money from Identity Theft - Often the best method for tackling a problem is to grasp onto several principles to put into place which will help you...
• Is Insurance Enough to Protect You From Identity Theft? - The Federal Trade Commission estimates that approximately 8.3 million Americans experienced identity theft in 2005.  Unfortunately, the number of identity theft victims...

This entry was posted on Tuesday, January 2nd, 2007 at 5:33 pm and is filed under Tips & Advice. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can leave a response, or trackback from your own site.