Step You Need to Take When You Have Your Identity Stolen:

1. First things first: contact all three major credit bureaus and immediately place a “fraud alert” on your credit file. Be sure to ask for an extended fraud alert, which lasts for seven years. The credit bureaus don’t tell you that fraud alerts expire after 90 days, and identity thieves know this and often try to re-apply for credit with your credit information 90 days after they find out about the fraud alert.

Online, the credit bureaus can be reached at the following:

www.experian.com

www.equifax.com

www.transunion.com

The websites will have menu options for reporting credit problems or Identity thefts. You will probably have to fill out and submit a form.

Phone numbers:

Experian: 1-888-397-3742

Equifax: 1-888-766-0008

TransUnion: 1-800-916-8800

2. You need to fill out a police report about the identity theft and make several copies of it. Send copies of the police report to all three credit bureaus and also to any creditors who have opened fraudulent accounts in your name, with directions to cancel the fraudulent accounts. Always send everything via certified mail.

3. You need to start monitoring your credit report at least every week while the identity theft situation is occurring. If you see any false or fraudulent charges, immediately send a certified letter to the creditor, with a certified cc to the credit bureaus, informing them that the charges are false. Keep copies of all such letters and continue to monitor your credit reports to see that the false charges are corrected.

4. Contact the FTC (Federal Trade Commission) and report your identity theft, at www.ftc.gov. It is unlikely the FTC will personally investigate your claim, but the FTC does use the information to coordinate with the FBI to track down the larger identity theft rings and break them up.

5. Going offline? If the situation continues and does not resolve, you can “take yourself offline,” meaning you can completely suspend your credit reports with all three credit bureaus. If you apply for credit, then you would need to call the credit bureaus to “put yourself back online” while your application is pending. While this is effective at stopping identity theft, it can create problems for you for simple tasks such as cashing checks, etc. It is a remedy only to be used after you have tried the other remedies above.

6. If you suffer damages as a consequence of your identity theft and wish to consult a lawyer, please contact our offices (if you’re in Southern California) at 1-818-249-5291. If you are elsewhere, look for a local credit damage and identity theft attorney at www.naca.net.

I hope this article has been of use to you. Thank you for taking the time to read it.
 

Copyright 2007 by Robert F. Brennan of Brennan, Wiener & Associates. For more information, contact www.SoCalCreditDamage.com or send an email to info@brennanlaw.com.