These are the obvious evidences that you’ve been a victim of an identity theft. The very first clue will be by your card, bank or account statements. You can be surprised that there are charges, withdrawals or other changes you did not make.
Other indicators are you are failing to receive bills or mails when expected, receiving credit cards for which you did not apply, receiving calls from debt collectors that you did not buy or denial of credit cards fro which you did not apply.
It is better to act quickly when you suspect you’ve become a victim of identity theft. First is to contact all creditors with whom your name has been used fraudulently. Your card provider can help you especially if they have an identity theft action plan.
Contact law enforcement so that you can file necessary police report. It will help you because they would seek for an investigation. Your bank, Credit Card Company often requires police reports before they would make their own investigation.
Immediately contact financial institutions where your accounts have taken over by identity thief. Doing this, you can now cancel accounts, place stop payment using your name. Make sure that any outstanding checks are cleared before you can use it. It is better also if you would change your ATM card, account and PIN.
You should report identity theft to the Federal Trade Commission (FTC) so that you can be given advice on how to proceed. You can also contact the fraud units of the three principal credit bureaus, namely, Equifax, Experian and TransUnion.
Through these institutions, you will be notifying if you can open any new accounts to stop the identity thief from using your accounts. They can flag your account by a “Fraud Alert” to warn you about illegal transactions in your account.
It is better to contact relevant government agencies, including the Social Security Administration’s Office of the Inspector General and the U.S. Postal Inspection Service, both of which have investigative arms. If you suspect your investment or brokerage accounts have been altered without your permission. Also report that certain information to the Securities and Exchange Commission via its online Complaint Center
Reporting identity theft is not enough. You should also keep track to the investigation. You can keep file of documents to the identity theft like disputed bills, credit reports and police reports.
Keep a log of your telephone conversations with the persons and agencies you have contacted for assistance. Be sure to record the date and time of the calls, the names and titles of the people you spoke with, and the things you discussed.
Do not forget to have copies of written correspondence related to the identity theft. You can keep documents for your file. This way, you will be keeping updated to the investigation and able to help in the investigations.
Institutions that investigate cases of identity theft should be contacted immediately, especially if you think that you are a victim yourself. They can provide identity theft protection for you, so it is necessary to cooperate with them.
