Legal
The first steps to take after identity theft
There is an official sequence, it is free, and doing it in order saves repeating yourself to every institution involved.
The federal starting point is IdentityTheft.gov, which takes a report and generates a recovery plan and an official identity theft report. That report is what unlocks several of the rights that follow, so it comes before calling individual companies.
Next is a fraud alert or a credit freeze with the national credit bureaus. A freeze prevents new credit being opened in your name and is free to place and lift. It has to be done with each bureau separately, and it does not affect existing accounts.
Then contact the institutions where accounts were opened or misused, in writing, attaching the identity theft report. Federal law gives rights to have fraudulent information blocked from a credit report and to obtain records of the fraudulent transactions.
Keep a log of every call: date, who you spoke to, what was agreed. Recovery frequently involves the same conversation more than once, and the log is what stops it starting from the beginning each time.
What to do next. Start at IdentityTheft.gov to get the official report, then freeze your credit with each bureau before contacting individual companies.
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