What To Do

Visit the Federal Trade Commission’s Identity Theft Recovery page for more information.

Immediate steps

• Call the fraud department at the banks and lenders with the affected accounts.
• Call the credit reporting agencies (Equifax, TransUnion, Experian) to place a fraud alert on your credit report. Request copies of your reports and dispute the errors.
  • A fraud alert adds a note to your credit report that requires a business to contact you before granting credit, to verify you requested it. The fraud alert stays on your report for 90 days, and you can renew it.
  • File a report with the Federal Trade Commission (FTC) and your local law enforcement.

Next steps

• Close all new, fraudulent accounts.
• Keep watching your accounts to make sure illegal charges are removed.
• Remove the fraudulent information from your credit report.
• Think about extending the fraud alert or asking for a credit freeze.
  • A credit freeze with a credit reporting agency stops others from applying for credit in your name.