Identity Theft Victims: After the Crime

Posted by: Sally S. | Dec 18,2007

If you’ve been the victim of identity theft, you have to fight to regain your good name. Identity thieves do more than just steal money or borrow money using your identity- they also ruin your good name. And it’s up to you to fight to win it back. What to do if you’ve been a victim of identity theft:

 

• Report the identity theft to the credit reporting agencies. Contact Experian, Trans Union and Equifax and request that a fraud alert be placed on your credit reports.
• Contact all of your creditors and tell them that you’ve been the victim of identity theft.
• If you receive information about bills or lines of credit in your name that do not belong to you, immediately contact those creditors and let them know you were a victim of identity theft. You are allowed to request and receive copies of any and all applications for credit cards, loans or utilities opened in your name. It’s upsetting to see how someone used your personal information, but you need to review the documents to see what information the identity thieves stole from you.
• You’re entitled to a free copy of your credit report when you’ve been the victim of identity theft. Order your credit report and monitor it vigilantly. In addition, you may want to purchase a credit monitoring product to watch for additional suspicious activities on your credit report. I’d recommend doing this for at least one year.
• File a police report that details the identity theft.

 

It takes time, and a lot of effort. But working hard to clear your good name is worth it. We’ll provide you with more tips you can use after an identity theft tomorrow.

 

 

 

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