3 Things To Do If You Are A Victim Of Identity Theft

Identity theft is something serious and is something that you should take more consideration of before it happens to you

. There are important measures that you will want to take if you've been a victim of identity theft and you should know what they are so that you can be prepared. Inside of this article, we will take a look at some of the things that you should do and how you can use this information to rebuild your good name. Here's tip number 1.

1) Tell the credit bureaus

If you've been a victim of identity theft, you will want to notify the credit bureaus immediately. When you notify one bureau, they will relay your information to the other 2 bureaus. Your social security number will be on alert for 3 months so that someone can't try to open up new credit in your name.

Another thing that you can do is to have an extended fraud alert be placed on your credit file. With an extended fraud alert, it will be on your file for 7 years and you will have to submit a police report with the request also. When your information is flagged, creditors will know that you've been a victim of identity theft and they will take additional measures to protect you.

An automated service with one credit bureau will be available for you to provide your social security number. This alert will be passed on to the other 2 major bureaus and all 3 will send you a confirmation letter stating that a fraud alert has been placed on your file. You will also be given a chance to get your credit report for free from the major bureaus, and will be given instructions on how to do so.

2) Take a look at your credit report

If you see any information that doesn't look familiar on your credit reports, be sure to call the bureaus to notify them. Look through each of the creditors to ensure that you haven't requesting any credit from them. If you see anything that looks fraudulent, report it. Also, you will want to check your personal information.

Check your name, address, employer information, and even your social security number. Make sure all of these match and if anything doesn't, be sure to let the corresponding bureau know. Every 3 months you will want to order copies of your credit report so that you can stay on top of your credit. You get a free credit report every year by going to annualcreditreport.com, but if you're a little skeptical about ordering it online - then you should be cautious about doing so.

3) Go to the police

You will want to file a police report of the identity theft that took place. Take your credit report and highlight the fraudulent areas that you see. Take this to the police and file a police report with the information that you have. Any new evidence that comes up you will want to give to them and you will want to keep copies of the police report for your creditors and credit bureaus to see.

I hope these tips gave you an idea of what you should be doing to stop identity theft if it happened to you. Be sure to use these ideas wisely so that you can get back on the road to recovery.

3 Things To Do If You Are A Victim Of Identity Theft

By: Adrian Hargray

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