What To Do If Your Identity Is Stolen

Identity theft is a serious crime that happens when one party uses someone else's personal information, including name, address, social security number, and other personal information, to impersonate them. Identity thieves often do it for financial reasons or commit a crime under someone else's name, meaning it can have serious ramifications to the victims in terms of finances and reputation.

Statistics show that no one is immune to identity theft, particularly in the current digital times. That means you’re still susceptible to identity theft even if you’re extra cautious with how you handle your personal or financial details.

Although identity theft is on the rise, not many people are aware of the measures they need to put in place to protect themselves or what to do when it happens. This post looks at seven things that you need to do if you fall victim to identity theft.

Before we take a look at what to do if your identity is stolen, let’s first understand what identity theft is and how it actually works.

What Is Identity Theft?

Identity theft is a crime that occurs when someone obtains the personal or financial details of another and uses that to commit fraud or other crimes. In most cases, the identity thief will use your name, address, credit card details, or Social Security Number (SSN) to:

• Pretend to be you in case they are arrested
• Use your health insurance to get medical services
• Steal your tax refund
• Open a gas, electricity, or phone account in your name
• Get new credit cards in your name
• Make unauthorized purchases with your credit cards

How Does Identity Theft Work?

Crimes of identity theft range from simple to more complex tricks that are not easy for an average person to understand. While you may not have fallen victim to identity theft yet, the truth is that someone may be compromising your identity at this very moment without your knowledge. Understanding some basic types of identity theft will help you be better prepared if and when it occurs to you.

Common types of identity theft include:

• Someone calls you claiming to be a representative from your bank institution
• Going through your trash for discarded documents
• Stealing newly issued items, including credit cards, checks, utility bills, identification cards, insurance statements, and other benefits documents from your unsecured mailbox
• Looking over your shoulder at the ATM to use your PIN
• Using more advanced methods such as phishing, skimming, or malware to steal your personal or financial information.

Consequences of Identity Theft

Once your identity is compromised, the identity thief often gets almost every bit of information they need, including your name, address, credit card details, bank information, and Social Security Number (SSN). With these items compromised, there’s no limit to the amount of damage they can cause, including changing your account details such as logins and passwords and billing address or even securing loans in your name. As a result, you may suffer damage to your finances and credit status.

The consequences of identity theft go beyond affecting your finances and credit report. In extreme cases, the identity thief may commit a series of non-financial crimes using your identity, for which you then suffer the consequences. The ramifications are even more severe when identity theft causes data breaches in a high-risk organization. 

Some of the telltale signs of a stolen identity include:

• Debt collectors calling to inquire about a debt you’re not aware of .
• Medical providers billing for services that were never offered to you.
• Unexplained withdrawals from your bank account.
• Receiving a bill for accounts, you know nothing about. 
• Poor credit report or being denied credit and not understanding why.
• Most of these signs will come after the damage has already happened. Luckily, early detection can be accomplished to prevent further losses. 

What To Do If Your Identity Is Stolen

Irrespective of what the thieves do, identity theft crimes can have serious implications on your life, both in the short term and in the long term. Even worse, the case may take years to complete and, of course, so much money to resolve, especially when multiple players and highly complex schemes are involved.

The good news is that recovering from identity theft is not impossible. There are numerous options and resources to help you clear your name and your credit report of any fraudulent information. You need to know that time is of the essence if you have lost your credit cards/purse/wallet or suspect your personal or financial information has been compromised. 

Here are several steps you can take if you feel that someone stole your identity:

If you suspect that your identity has been compromised, one of the first things you need to do is freeze your credit report. Doing this adds a layer of protection by cutting off access to your credit report. In simple terms, the credit bureaus won’t share your report with third parties who request it, thus preventing new accounts from being created in your name. It is also advisable to freeze credit reports for children as well since they too can become victims of identity theft. 

Although you’ll need to contact all credit bureaus individually when freezing your credit, the good thing about freezing your credit is that you can always lift it when applying for new credit. This is quite an easy thing to do compared to losing your hard-earned money. What’s even better, freezing and unfreezing your credit is free and doesn’t affect your credit score in any way.

1. Tighten Security On All Accounts In Your Name

In the current digital times, the first line of defense from tech-based types of identity theft such as hacking, phishing, malware, or skimming, is your passwords. That’s why you need to change your password as soon you suspect your identity has been compromised.

Additionally, practice good password hygiene. That means you should avoid using weak passwords as they make you vulnerable to scammers. Instead, ensure that you use complex passwords that include a combination of numbers, letters, and symbols. More importantly, refrain from using the same password or a close variation for different accounts because a single breach in your password could leave all the other accounts vulnerable. 

If using passwords on every online account is too much work for you, you may want to look for reliable password manager software. These solutions offer a super-easy way to ensure all accounts in your name have strong passwords. They work by generating passwords that are not easy to guess and then store and autofill on websites, so you don’t have to remember every time you want to log in. 

2. Make an Identity Theft Report with The Local Law Enforcement Authority

Your local police department should be among your first go-to places if you have fallen victim to identity theft. The main purpose of making a police report is to protect yourself when someone uses your identity to commit a crime. Without proper documentation and an identity theft police report, it may be challenging to resolve such a matter. Additionally, the report will come in handy when dealing with banks, bill collectors, and credit agencies.

3. Make an Identity Theft Report With Your Insurer To Initiate a Claim If You Have a Coverage

If you have an identity theft insurance plan, it is important to notify your insurance carrier as soon as possible. Identity theft insurance refers to an insurance policy designed to cover part of the cost incurred in the event of identity theft. Generally, an identity theft insurance plan covers the cost of reclaiming your financial identities and repairing your credit reports.  

4. Make an Identity Theft Report The Federal Trade Commission (FTC)

While you may not be legally obliged to report your case of stolen identity to the Federal Trade Commission (FTC), it is a good idea to do so. The FTC does not have the power to pursue identity theft criminals. However, law enforcement agencies such as the FBI can use the information provided by the FTC to track down the perpetrators. If you have had your identity stolen and wish to report the theft to the FTC, you can do so by contacting them online. 

5. Place A Fraud Alert On Your Credit Reports

There are three National Credit Reporting Agencies with which you could place an extended fraud alert in the event of identity theft. The three CRAs are Equifax, Experian, and TransUnion. You only have to place your fraud alert in one of the three agencies since they share information. When a fraud alert is placed, it stays active for 90 days allowing you time to clear your name. However, you can renew the alert as necessary until you resolve your issue. The extended fraud alert prevents any new credit applications in your name from being accepted unless after additional verification.

6. Sign Up for A Credit Monitoring Service If Offered

Signing up for a credit monitoring service is a good idea even when you have not yet had your identity stolen. If credit monitoring service is a new concept to you, here is its breakdown. 

Credit monitoring services are services offered by companies you pay to keep track of your credit files. The company utilizes your data on CRA to monitor your use of credit and alert you to any changes to your credit file. Some of the activities that can an alert with your credit monitoring service include:

• New account openings which include credit cards and loan applications
• "Hard" credit inquiries
• Change of address and accounts sent to collections for unpaid debts
• New public records such as information about bankruptcies and court judgment7. Make an Identity Theft Report With The Companies Affected by Your Stolen Identity.

7. Make an Identity Theft Report With The Companies Affected by Your Stolen Identity

According to the Federal Trade Commission (FTC), you are supposed to make an identity theft report with the companies where the fraudulent activity in question took place immediately you get information on the activity. You can do this by calling their anti-fraud department and let them know that you have been a victim of identity theft and did not open the account or perform the transaction in question. Additionally, it would be best if you asked to get a freeze on your credit accounts.

8. Scan Credit Card and Bank Statements for Other Unauthorized Charges

Repairing identity theft damages is often possible if you can address the situation early. To do this, you’ll need to keep reviewing your credit reports and bank statements regularly to see if there are any charges you don’t recognize. Additionally, you will need to sign up for fraud alerts with your creditors and banks to get a notification every time there’s a transaction. Don’t forget to check any accounts that are dormant or less frequently used. 

If you find a transaction that is not familiar to you, reach out to the financial institution to let them know of the issue and request the account be closed or locked. Sometimes your financial institution may recommend closing and reopening an account. Whether the damage has been done or not, your bank or creditor will help you figure out the best way to avoid future damage and gain control of your money.

Preventing Future Identity Theft Cases

Identity theft is usually not a one-time occurrence. It can happen many times over as stolen personal or financial information is often sold and circulated on the dark web. As such, you need to take every measure possible to prevent future cases from ever occurring by:

• Enabling two-factor authentication whenever offered. That way, it becomes quite difficult for anyone to access your account without both a password and a code delivered via phone, text, or email.
• Removing personal information such as phone numbers and addresses from public profiles on social media and other sites.
• Not clicking on links in emails from suspicious or unknown senders.
• Not carrying your social security number in your purse or wallet.
• Shredding documents with personal information.

Parting Shot

Whether you have unexplained withdrawals from your bank or credit card bills that you did not spend, it means someone stole your identity, and the damage has been done. Luckily, taking control of your personal and financial information can help prevent damage or future cases from occurring.

On the flip side, you need to know that identity theft charges or convictions can haunt you for the rest of your life. That’s why you should enlist a criminal defense lawyer as soon as you get arrested or realize you’re being investigated.