What you can do if your identity is stolen

If you find yourself to be the victim of identity theft, here are 10 practical steps that could minimize the damage:

• File a claim with your identity theft insurance
• Notify all the companies that your identity has been stolen
• File a report with the Federal Trade Commission
• Contact the local police department
• Place a certain fraud alert on your credit reports
• Freeze your credit
• Sign up for a particular credit monitoring service
• Put more emphasis on the security of your accounts
• Review your credit reports for specific mystery accounts
• Scan credit cards and even bank statements for unauthorized charges