If Your Identity Is StolenFixing identity theft can take countless hours, months, and even years. People who try to do it themselves report significant feelings of stress, anxiety, hopelessness, and even fear.
If you assume you can “just fix it” if your identity is stolen, consider the following partial checklist of what you may need to do:
- Place fraud alerts at the three major credit bureaus.
- Get copies of credit reports from all three credit bureaus and review the reports to identify fraudulent activity.
- Complete the Identity Theft Affidavit from the Federal Trade Commission to establish your rights as a victim.
- Contact the Social Security Administration, U.S. Postal Service, Internal Revenue Service, Department of Motor Vehicles, and other agencies as needed, to try to reverse any wrongful information, transactions, or misuse of official documentation.
- Submit disputes to credit card companies, banks, lending institutions, utility companies, cell phone carriers and more.
- Research and document any fraudulent transactions, false accounts, or contracts signed with creditors, banks, utility companies, leasing agents, medical facilities, etc., and make sure all erroneous information is removed from your credit file.
- Research public record databases to find and correct erroneous non-credit related information.
- Replace lost documentation, such as credit cards, licenses, passport, and/or government-issued documents.
When you sign up for a low-cost LibertyID member plan, you’ll know that—if identity theft occurs—we’ll take care of everything for you. All you’ll need to do is call us.
We’ll also…
Initiate single bureau credit monitoring, which will be in place throughout the recovery process and for a full 12 months after your case is resolved. Provide you with a complete copy of your credit report and score from one of the major credit reporting agencies, once per year.