Identity Theft Victim - 3 Things to Do ASAP

Are you an identity theft victim? Maybe you suspect it's because you spend your entire life online. You shop, you bank, you watch movies, listen to music, catch the news, make your major life decisions online. So what? Lots of people do and they never become an identity theft victim.

An identity theft victim only has less than 50% chance of the crime being perpetrated on the Internet. That means if you get victimized, you were more likely targeted in your offline, rather than your online, life.

However it happened, here are 10 things you can do to recover from the situation.

Identity Theft Victim - 3 Steps in the Right Direction

1. Call any of the three major credit bureaus (Experian, Equifax, TransUnion).

• Whichever bureau you call will notify the others and they'll all flag your credit files. - Credit issuers will now have to call you first before giving any further credit.
• As an identity theft victim, you get three, free reports.
• Inform the bureaus and all credit companies in the reports on which entries are fraudulent. (The bureaus block all fraudulent info to protect the identity theft victim.)
• You can even have the bureaus write whichever firms received the fraudulent reports in the last half-year to let them know entries are disputed/erroneous.
• Ask if, in your state, a police report can get the fraudulent entries removed from your report.

2. Call your local police agency

• Ask for a police report (furnish as many supporting documents as possible).
• The police report should include all the disputed accounts.
• Ask for the investigator's telephone numbers to give to parties who want to verify that you are indeed an identity theft victim.

What if they don't want to file a police report?

• If your case involved the US Postal System, try to get the report from the Postal Inspector.
• If a driving license under your name is involved, try your local DMV.

3. Call the FTC

• The FTC will not investigate your case, but if you call them, they can give you pointers on what to do next.
• The FTC website also has downloadable forms of the documentation an identity theft victim will need.
• One of the most important documents is the fraud affidavit (download from http://www.ftc.gov/bcp/conline/pubs/credit/affidavit.pdf)

Tip: There is NO law that requires an identity theft victim to pay to have the affidavits notarized. If a creditor asks to verify your signature, you can have witnesses sign instead.

Finally, don't be harassed by any creditor into paying debts that are results of fraud. Take down names, dates, times for every complaint and collection agent who calls you, cooperate, but don't pay. Neither should you file for bankruptcy.

As an identity theft victim, you're protected by federal and state laws and your credit rating will not be affected permanently.