{"id":291,"date":"2022-11-16T12:24:00","date_gmt":"2022-11-16T13:24:00","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/dishustad.com\/?p=291"},"modified":"2023-03-17T20:54:42","modified_gmt":"2023-03-17T20:54:42","slug":"what-to-do-if-your-identity-is-stolen-15-key-steps","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"http:\/\/dishustad.com\/index.php\/2022\/11\/16\/what-to-do-if-your-identity-is-stolen-15-key-steps\/","title":{"rendered":"What To Do If Your Identity Is Stolen: 15 Key Steps"},"content":{"rendered":"
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\"What+to+do+if+you+are+a+victim+of+credit+fraud\"<\/h2>\n<\/div>\n
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It’s very important to understand what to do if your identity is stolen. In today’s world, it seems like every few months, there is a news report about a security breach. And these breaches have the potential to leave masses of people susceptible to identity theft and credit fraud.<\/p>\n

There are multiple ways someone can steal your identity, from lost purses or a wallet<\/a> to using public wi-fi. Thieves may even steal your information from ATMs.<\/p>\n

One of the largest breaches in recent times was the Equifax breach<\/a> which was estimated to have affected over 143 million people. That’s almost 1\/2 of the population of the U.S! Crazy right?<\/p>\n

It may have left many people wondering what to do if someone steals your identity. Well, knowing that security breaches can and do occur, here are some key things you need to do.<\/p>\n

You can minimize the impact and protect yourself from potential credit fraud when you know how to report identity theft.<\/p>\n

15 steps for what to do if your identity is stolen<\/h2>\n

If someone steals your identity, this can affect many things. From debit cards to your bank accounts and bank account numbers, and driver’s license numbers, a lot of your personal information can be compromised.<\/p>\n

Because this can happen without you realizing it, it’s important to prepare and know how to report identity theft.<\/p>\n

From knowing the answer to “how do I file a police report for identity theft?” to “how do I notify the post office?”, you’ll find answers here.<\/p>\n

There are many preventative measures you can take. Such as having identity theft insurance and identity theft protection service, monitoring credit reports, etc. Also, find out where to look to see if theft has occurred.<\/p>\n

Victims of identity theft unfortunately have to work hard to fix a problem they didn’t create. But having preventative measures in place can help with ID theft.<\/p>\n

1. Check your credit immediately to confirm if your identity w<\/strong>as stolen<\/strong><\/h3>\n

If you have concerns about identity theft and want to know what to do if your identity is stolen, check your credit immediately with a free credit report. You want to make sure everything on your credit report is as expected.<\/p>\n

Get your free credit report<\/h4>\n

You have access to a free copy of your credit report from all 3 credit bureaus each year via annualcreditreport.com<\/a>.<\/p>\n

Many banks are also now offering this service for free with your accounts. Alternatively, you can choose to pay for one.<\/p>\n

The bottom line is that you need to stay on top of checking your credit to make sure nothing strange is going on there. If things are amiss, keep reading.<\/p>\n

2. Alert the credit bureaus immediately<\/h3>\n

Alert the credit bureaus to report the situation and place a fraud alert or freeze on your credit reports to prevent any additional damage.<\/p>\n

A credit freeze (or security freeze) lets you restrict access to your credit report. This means lenders will not be able to access your credit to approve any unauthorized lines of credit until you remove the freeze.<\/p>\n

You can get a freeze on your credit from each of the 3 major credit bureaus – Equifax<\/a>, TransUnion<\/a>, and Experian<\/a>.<\/p>\n

It’s a good idea to learn how credit works and check in on it at least once a month regardless. Checking your own credit does not impact your score<\/a>.<\/p>\n

3. Get a credit monitoring service in place <\/strong><\/h3>\n

Just because a breach has happened does not mean identity theft or credit fraud will happen right away.<\/p>\n

If you’re determining what to do if someone steals your identity, know that it could take months or years before you are affected.<\/p>\n

Usually, when a company is impacted by a security breach e.g. Equifax, they typically offer free credit monitoring of some sort for a period of time.<\/p>\n

However, there are several other companies that can do this for you as well. I don’t blame you if you don’t want to go with the company that caused all the trouble in the first place!<\/p>\n

How credit monitoring helps you<\/h4>\n

When you have your credit monitored it will alert you when someone applies for a line of credit or adds one in your name. The monitoring will help you keep track of exactly what’s going on with your credit<\/a>.<\/p>\n

Keep in mind that even if you have a credit freeze, it’s a good idea to still have credit monitoring. Because the fraud could happen on your existing accounts which a credit freeze does not impact.<\/p>\n

4. Report the problem to the FTC<\/h3>\n

As soon as you realize that your identity was stolen, you should report it to the Federal Trade Commission (FTC)<\/a> right away.<\/p>\n

By making this report to the FTC, you’ll get guidance on how to create a recovery plan. They’ll provide you with guidance on how to:<\/p>\n