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
