Identity Theft Response Plan
What do you do when the credit monitoring service informs you that an account has been opened in your name? After your stomach stops churning, you need to implement your response plan.
The first step is to notify any one of the three major credit agencies that your credit has suspicious activity on it. This is known as putting a fraud alert on your reports. By notifying Equifax, Experian, or TransUnion and making them aware of a problem, they will act quickly to place a fraud alert on your credit. Once you have alerted them you need to review your reports and list out all the suspicious activity that you see. This could include accounts you don't recognize or charges you didn't make.
The second step is a theft affidavit. The form can be found at http://www.ftc.gov/idtheft/ and will stop creditors and debt collectors from thinking you are trying to just avoid paying your bills. You also need to file a police report in the city where you live. Keep a copy of your police report because you may be required to send it to creditors to prove you have been a victim of credit fraud.
If you have had mail stolen or your mailing address has been used by someone other than you, a report with the postal inspectors needs to also be filed. Your local postal office will have information about filing a report with a postal inspector. If you believe the fraud is a result of someone stealing your mail, as in the case where someone will have accepted a credit card offer in your name, you can alert the local post master. If your Social Security number has been used fraudulently, you also need to contact the Social Security Administration.
Beyond alerting different institutions about your stolen identity and fraudulent charges, it may be necessary to close the accounts that have been tampered with. Each company should have a fraud or security department that you can speak to who will help you identify whether or not you need to close your open accounts.
There are a number of services and agencies that can help you recover from identity theft and who offer credit monitoring and credit protection services to help prevent further fraud.