What to Do If Your Identity Is Stolen

What to Do If Your Identity Is Stolen

To report that your identity has been stolen, do these things immediately:

File a report with your local police or the police where the identity theft took place. Get a copy of the report in case the credit union, bank, credit card company, or others need proof of the crime.
Contact the creditors or financial institutions where fraudulent accounts have been opened. Creditors can include credit unions, banks, credit card companies, phone companies, utilities, and other lenders. Ask to speak with someone in the security or fraud department of each creditor, and follow up with a letter. You must notify credit card companies in writing in order to comply with consumer protection laws.
Immediately close accounts that have been tampered with and open new ones with new personal identification numbers (PINs) and passwords. Avoid using easily available information like your mother's maiden name, your birth date, the last four digits of your Social Security number or your phone number, or a series of consecutive numbers. Contact the fraud departments of the three major credit bureaus. Ask that a fraud alert be placed on your file and that no new credit be granted without your approval. At the same time, order copies of your credit reports from the credit bureaus. Credit bureaus must give you a free copy of your report if your report is inaccurate because of fraud, and you request it in writing.
Review your reports carefully to make sure no additional fraudulent accounts have been opened in your name or unauthorized changes made to your existing accounts. Also, check the section of your report that lists inquiries. Where inquiries appear from the company(ies) that opened the fraudulent account(s), request that these inquiries be removed from your report. In a few months, order new copies of your reports to verify your corrections and changes, and to make sure no new fraudulent activity has occurred.

To report fraud, call and write:

Equifax
800.525.6285 (TTY: 800.255.0056)
equifax.com
P.O. Box 740241
Atlanta, GA 30374-0241
Experian
888.397.3742 (TTY: 800.972.0322)
experian.com
P.O. Box 2002
Allen, TX 75013
TransUnion
800.680.7289 (TTY: 800.553.7803)
transunion.com
Fraud Victim Assistance division
P.O. Box 6790
Fullerton, CA 92834-6790