Recovering from identity theft can be a very difficult task to complete. Although extreme cases of fraud by identity theft are rare, they do happen and can happen to anyone. The steps taken to recover from identity theft will depend largely on the type of fraud that has occurred, but many of the initial steps taken to recover from identity theft can be used in a wide variety of situations.
The first step that should be taken is to alert any company that may be affected by the identity theft by reporting the fraudulent actions taken in your name. By law, credit card companies and other businesses are required to investigate fraud allegations and if the report is made within a certain time frame after the fraudulent action, the account holder – you – will not be held liable for any losses resulting from the fraudulent action. It is important to report any suspicious activity on your accounts quickly so that the process of recovering from identity theft will be simpler for all involved.
After the fraudulent actions have been reported to the companies that handled the transactions, the next step is to contact one of the three major credit reporting agencies to place a fraud alert on your credit report. You only need to alert one of the agencies because they are required by law to report the fraud alert to the other two agencies. The alert remains on your credit report for 90 days and entitles you to a free copy of your report so that you can review the report for any suspicious accounts or activities.
Other items that should be filed include an identity theft report with your local police department and a complaint form with the trade commission. Make multiple copies of each report and save the originals in a safe place so that they can be used for prosecution of any suspects found by law enforcement in their identity theft investigation. Many cases of identity theft are difficult to prosecute due to lack of evidence, so any additional evidence given to law enforcement can increase the chances of a successful prosecution.
After the identity theft has been reported to all of the above parties, you may want to consider signing up for credit monitoring or identity fraud services. The three major credit reporting agencies offer monthly or annual subscriptions to credit monitoring services that monitor your credit report and send you an alert if any suspicious activity occurs. Recovering from identity theft can be a long and time consuming process, but taking these steps can help you recover faster.