I’ve fallen victim to ID theft…what should I do?

October 18, 2010 – 10:06 am

So you just realized you’ve become a victim of identity theft, one of the fastest growing crimes in America. Now what?

If you are a victim, taking the following steps immediately will help you reduce the monetary damage and the amount of time you have to spend cleaning up the mess the thief left behind.

1. Contact the three major credit reporting bureaus, Equifax, Experian and TransUnion, and request that a fraud alert be placed on your credit file. You are entitled to a free credit report when you place a fraud alert.

2. Consider going a step further and placing a security freeze on your credit file. This prevents new credit accounts being opened in your name.

3. Order your free credit report from each bureau and examine it carefully, looking for fraudulent or questionable entries. Send a written dispute to any bureau where you find errors.

4. Check your credit reports periodically, even after this incident is cleared up, to be sure there is no new activity.

5. Contact all creditors, beginning with those that have been tampered with or opened fraudulently. Close the accounts.

6. When you open new accounts, set up new PINs and passwords.

7. File a police report, and be sure to retain several copies.

8. Send a copy of the police report to each of the credit reporting bureaus.

9. File a complaint with the Federal Trade Commission online at www.ftccomplaintassistant.gov, or through the FTC’s identity theft hotline at 877-438-43338. Retain a copy of your ID theft complaint for your records.

By now you’ve realized that what you should have done was sign up with LifeLock in the first place, and you could have avoided the whole mess. Not only would LifeLock’s proactive services have alerted you before the damage was done, but a LifeLock representative would have worked with you if you had fallen victim, to restore your good name. You wouldn’t have had to deal with this situation on your own.

But it’s never too late…give LifeLock a call today. Receive 30 days free and get a 10 percent discount on enrollment with the LifeLock Promo Code “Defense.”

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