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The Identity Theft Victim’s Mini-Guide to Recovery

I'm an ID Theft Victim. Now What?

It's sad for me to hear the actual stories of the victims especially since it could have been so easily prevented in most cases if the lawmakers and the agencies who are supposed to protect you would just get their acts together.

Blame aside, the question is: what do you do? I wish I could help everyone, but every situation is different. What I will post here are the most common, basic steps you will take to handle the current situation and prevent further ones.

Stop the Hemmoraging

Most of ID Theft is a result of someone else gaining access to your credit reports. Things like getting a bank account, getting a job, getting a lease, turning on utilities, and getting a cellphone all require a credit check. The very first thing you need to do is cut off access to your credit files to prevent the problem from getting worse or re-occuring in the future.

  1. File a police report with your local police and/or the Federal Trade Commission. All you need to do is say "I want to file a report of identity theft" and let them lead you through their process. They may or may not actually provide you much help or guidance, but that's ok. All you really need is a case number. You'll need this for several of the later steps.
  2. Most of ID Theft activity is hinged on access to your credit report which is protected only by a combination of your personal information much of which can be accessed freely on the Internet. This needs to stop. Take your police report or case number and contact each of the three Credit Reporting Companies. Tell them you want to put a "Credit Freeze" on your file and make sure they don't try to charge you any fees (credit freezes should be free for ID Theft victims).
  3. While you're on the phone with them, have them send you a copy of your current credit report. If the won't, use your "free coupon" granted by federal law by going to AnnualCreditReport.com (the ONLY legitimate site to get them). You are entitled to one free report per year from each of the three companies. The site will lead you through the process, but some of the companies will try to sell you add-ons like credit monitoring services or similar. Don't do it. Get your free report and nothing else. If you see a spot to enter a credit card, you did it wrong.

Repair the Damage

Now you're going to start fixing the damage they caused.

  1. With your credit report in hand, you should be able to get an idea of what companies the scumbag opened accounts with or dealt with. You might even get some phone numbers and address information that's clearly not yours. Make a list of all of these and provide them to the police referencing your previous case number.
  2. Contact each company and explain the situation. Provide the case number or a copy of the police report if necessary, but make sure that they conduct an investigation or remove your information from the account records. Your goal here is to make sure that they no longer contact you or report you in relation to the debt/account.
  3. For each company you successfully do this with, follow the challenge process with the Credit Reporting Companies whose reports show that debt. They have 30 days to contact the creditor themselves to verify the item. If they can't (which they shouldn't because you just had the creditor remove your name from their records), they must remove that item from your report by law (based on the Fair Credit Reporting Act).

Shut it All Down

Someone is getting some benefit from your identity in the form of goods and/or services. You might have information of what those are and you might now. It may be worth hiring a private investigator to dig up information about yourself so you can figure out what kinds of records are in your name that shouldn't be.

Even if it didn't impact your credit report, take care of them. If you find out that the DMV for a state you've never lived in has records in your name, work to have them expunged. If someone activated a phone service for a house somewhere in your name, have it shut off. Follow every lead you have and stamp it flat. Best case scenario, you get enough information to identify the theif.

What next?

The above links are good resources to learn more about the issue, but if you want the biggest bang for the buck to learn quickly and clearly about the ID Theft problem and concrete steps you can take to prevent it in the future, please check out my Goodbye Identity Theft crash course

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Have a Comment or Question?

4 Comments to “The Identity Theft Victim’s Mini-Guide to Recovery”

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Remark (s):
This section lists all of the remarks or comments that have been added to your file.
This may include a consumer statement and any other comments
made to your file. Each comment shows the date and reason the remark was added with the remark.

What does this mean?

I never made this remark on my credit file

Jun xx 2011— CONSUMER INTERVIEW — PLEASE CONTACT BEFORE EXTENDING CREDIT TO ANYONE IN MY NAME

    It sounds like someone at the company added it for you base on a phone converstaion or something similar. It’s probably not a ID theft thing, but if you want to be sure, just freeze your credit reports and then you won’t have to worry about it as much.

Your website is very interesting and new to me, the information you provided………………. I’ve never used an ATM card

I don’t have a debit card. Once a month I go by the drive through window. Everything on my Amex card which I pay online. Travel expenses (everything)on Amex card. Is this wise? You’ve spooked the hell out of me. What is best way to travel and have privacy?

Thank you, so much

    A credit card in the USA is protected by federal law so that should be fine. I don’t know as much about Amex, but if they’re like other credit card companies where unauthorized purchases are not your responsibility, then you should definitely use it versus an ATM or debit card.

Do you know if any of those identity theft protection programs are worth it? I thought about subscribing to something like Lifelock, but I’ve seen mixed reviews on that service.

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Check out one of my guides/tutorials:

email Tutorial
|INDEX|next: E-mail Viruses

E-mail Dangers

Until we find out who the people are who actually buy things from spammers and kick them off the Internet, you're going to have to learn how to deal with and prevent spam.
E-mail Viruses - Learn how viruses are spread through e-mail and how to stop them
Phishing - Spot and avoid lures that pull you into the dark side of the web
Don't be one of those people that loses thousands of dollars to the classic Nigerian Scam.

E-mail Etiquette

Use CC only when necessary and BCC the rest of the time.
Use Reply-All when you mean to and never when you don't.
Practice proper E-mail Forwarding to protect privacy and make e-mails more readable.
Always personalize your e-mails to make it obvious to your recipient that it's valid.

E-mail Tips and Tricks

Using E-Mail Aliases Properly - Be careful about using sensitive data (like your real name) in an e-mail account.
Remember to treat your e-mail account with the security it deserves.
Use a decoy e-mail account to keep your main e-mail account free of spam.
Avoid using any Internet provider's default e-mail.

... or check out any of my other guides and tutorials by clicking here!

Preventing Spam

Spam is annoying and worthless, but you still see it every single day. Here are some tips for preventing and reducing spam.

[Click for full description]

E-mail Viruses

Make sure that viruses don't sneak onto your computer through your e-mails. Read some simple tips to prevent that from happening.

[Click for full description]

Phishing

By far the most dangerous thing you'll find in e-mails is a lie. Sending a bogus e-mail to someone is generally called phishing, but can also be referred to as a Nigerian scam (depending on the goal of the e-mail). Learn to recognize and deal with phishing before it's too late.

[Click for full description]

Nigerian Scam

Many people have lost thousands and even hundreds of thousands of dollars to the classic Nigerian Scam. Don't fall for it!

[Click for full description]

How to Use "CC" Properly

Don't violate people's privacy and invite spam into their accounts by CC'ing all your contacts. Learn the proper way to send mass e-mails first.

[Click for full description]

Reply-All

It's easy to embarass yourself or harm your career when you don't know how to use Reply-All appropriately.

[Click for full description]

How to Forward E-mails Properly

Don't forward e-mails carelessly or you risk looking foolish as best and violating the privacy of all your contacts at worst.

[Click for full description]

Personalize E-mail

Follow this simple rule of e-mail etiquette to help prevent your friends and family from falling for phishing scams.

[Click for full description]

Using E-Mail Aliases Properly

It can be hard to find a good name to use in an e-mail account that hasn't been used and doesn't give away too much information about you.

[Click for full description]

Protecting E-mail Passwords

Your e-mail account is the most important online account you have. Remember to treat it as such!.

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Using a Decoy E-Mail Account

Why it's very important to use a buffer e-mail account to shield your main account from people and companies that you don't trust.

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The ISP E-mail Trap

Don't fall for the trap of using the free e-mail account provided to you by your Internet service!

[Click for full description]