Once you find your financial, credit, or personal information has been used fraudulently (with or without direct loss or theft), there are general steps for reporting, as well as specific measures that are dependent on the type of fraud enacted. The Federal Trade Commission and other organizations have outlined some interrelated procedures for when you have fallen victim to identity theft perpetrators.

Initial Steps

• Report activity to related authorities: There is a separate report from the theft or robbery in which your information was stolen. File report of fraudulent activity using your personal or credit information to the local police, SSA, and/or US Postal Service (should you find that mail related fraud has occured). The FTC suggests you should file a report with at least one agency and through their “online complaint form” process (available on any FTC identity theft website). You will need all of these reports for the extended fraud alert, and as part of compiling an Identity Theft Report.

• Close all of your current accounts: If you have not already done so after the theft, start closing your current accounts or those that have not been tampered, as they may be at risk of account takeover, which is one of the most widely-practiced forms of fraud after an identity theft. You may be able to have the account closed with only the official report from the authorities, with both the report and some proof that new account activity is fraudulent (e.g.: signatures in fraudulent transactions that do not match your signature), or the company may need more evidence of the crime taking place, like the Identity Theft Report. See the next steps for more information.

As mentioned above, companies with whom you do business will open new accounts once the accounts where fraudulent activities have taken place are closed. The new accounts will also need to be monitored for future theft activity. You should monitor these new accounts independently, and through your credit report (see below).

You will also need to report your identity theft and its related fraud to the CRAs. Whether you have already reported a 90-day fraud alert to the CRAs, or have not contacted them at all, please review the reporting process (see “ Part III: Reporting to the CRAs”), as the process changes once fraudulent activity in your name has taken place.

References

Federal Trade Commission. DEFEND: Recover From Identity Theft

Federal Trade Commission: Facts for Consumers: Taking Charge: Fighting Back Against Identity Theft