Actions To Take If You Are A Victim Of Identity Theft

If you are a victim of identity theft, there are important steps to take to limit damage to your finances and help prevent any further fraud or theft.

1) Notify your bank or credit card companies.

The first step you will want to take is to contact your bank or credit card company immediately by phone.  Follow up with a letter stating the full name of the representative you spoke with, the date and time you contacted them and the details of the fraudulent transactions.  It is best to send the letter certified mail and be sure to keep a copy of the letter for your records.  The amount you may be held responsible for depends on how soon you report the fraud, so it is best to report any fraudulent activity as soon as you discover it. 

Ask your bank or credit card company to waive any fees that may be charged due to the fraud and to restore the funds to your account.  The general timeline when reporting fraud is as follows:

  • You have 60 days from the date your account statement is sent to you to report any fraudulent activity.  You could lose all the money that was taken from your account after the end of the 60 days.
  • If you report the fraud within two business days of discovery, your losses are limited to $50.
  • If you report the fraud after two business days, but within 60 days after the fraud appears on your statement, you could lose up to $500 of the stolen funds.

If the financial institution has reasonable grounds to think you have been grossly negligent with the security of your account, they may delay refunding the fraudulent transactions until they conduct an investigation which can take up to two weeks.

2) Put a fraud alert on your credit report.

Contact the three credit report agencies and request a fraud alert be placed on your credit report.  By creating the fraud alert, you are entitled to one free copy from each credit reporting company within 12 months of placing the alert, regardless of when you requested your last report.  This notifies lenders and creditors that they should take extra steps to verify your identity before extending credit. 

The contact information for the three are:

3) File a complaint and complete an ‘ID Theft Affidavit’ with the Federal Trade Commission.

This form is available from the Federal Trade Commission at www.ftc.gov/idtheft.  Creditors may accept this affidavit when you claim that you are not responsible for a new account or for transactions on an existing account, but may require you to submit additional information.  This affidavit will also be useful if you request copies of the thief's application records that used your personal information. 

Be sure to inform any companies you pay automatically through your credit or bank accounts of any account changes in order to avoid fees or having your service suspended.

If you will have trouble making any of your monthly payments because of the fraud, contact those creditors and explain the situation.   If they know that you were a victim of identity theft, they may be willing to work with you to reschedule payments. 

4)  File a Report with your local law enforcement. 

Provide law enforcement with a copy of your ID Theft Affidavit.  Retain a copy of the police report for your records.   

5)  Contact the local post office.

If you believe that someone has changed your address through the post office or has committed mail fraud, contact your local post office.  If you discover that mail in your name is being sent to another address, ask the post office to forward all mail in your name to your address.

6) Contact the Social Security Administration (SSA). 

If your Social Security number has been used to fraudulently obtain welfare or Social Security benefits, go to the SSA Office of the Inspector General website at www.socialsecurity.gov/oig or call the SSA Fraud Hotline at 800-269-0271. 

7) Contact the U.S. State Department. 

If your passport was stolen or if you believe someone may be fraudulently ordering a passport in your name, visit the U.S. State Department website at www.travel.state.gov or call 877-487-2778.

8) Contact your state's Department of Motor Vehicles (DMV). 

Contact the DMV if your driver's license was stolen or if you think someone is using your driver's license number to facilitate fraud and request a new driver’s license number.  Most states will put a fraud alert on your license if you ask for one. 

Carol Chaudet

Last Updated: 01/03/2017