What To Do If Your Identity Is Stolen

If your identity is stolen you need to act fast. Follow the steps below to stop identity thieves in their tracks.

Step 1: Call Your Bank

You are not liable for much (if anything) that is charged on your credit cards in the event of identity theft. Your bank account is a different story though. You can be held liable for any charges that were made before you notified the bank that your accounts had been compromised. So call your bank first, before you do anything else!

Tell them to cancel your debit cards and your checks. If necessary, have them completely close the account and open up a new one. You should also dispute any charges that were made before you called your bank. There is a good chance that you can get the charges credited back to your account. Your individual bank will walk you through this process. I had to do this myself when my identity was stolen, and it was simple, and quick. As long as you take this step first, you will be protected from the worst of the financial damage that an identity thief can inflict.

Step 2: File A Police Report

Next you will need to call your local police department. Do not call 911 int his situation. Tell them that your identity has been stolen, and file a police report. You will need to get a copy of your police report, and keep the report number close - you’ll need it to complete the next few steps.

Step 3: Call Your Credit Card Companies

Once you have filed your police report, call your credit card company. Give them the police report number, and have them cancel your current credit cards. They can either re-issue you a new credit card on the same account (with a different number) or close your credit account and open up a new one.

From a financial perspective, it is better to keep your credit card accounts open, and just have a new card issued. If you close your credit card accounts it will impact your credit score - even if they open new accounts for you. So, keep those accounts open unless there is no other way around it.

As far as liability goes you should not be liable for more than $50 of any charges that were illegally made on your credit accounts. Visa, in particular, usually offers zero liability. Be sure that you check your next credit card statement carefully and note any fraudulent charges. Call your credit card company and dispute those charges. Give them your police report number again when you call to dispute the charges.

Step 4: Freeze Your Credit Reports

It is important that you freeze your credit reports, and do not simply place a fraud alert on them. If you place a fraud alert on your credit reports, it means that lenders can still pull your credit score - which means that an identity thief could still possibly open up new accounts in your name.

Freezing your credit reports on the other hand, means that no one can access your credit reports or scores but you - at least until you choose to un-freeze them. If lender’s can’t access your credit score, then there is zero possibility of an identity thief being able to open up a new account in your name.

If you have filed a police report, you will be able to freeze and un-freeze your credit reports for free in most states. To begin the process, you can visit the three main credit bureaus online. You will need to create accounts with each of them.

• Equifax
• TransUnion
• Experian

You can also read more about freezing your credit reports in our article “What is a Security Credit Freeze and When Should I Use One?“.

Step 5: Replace Your Driver’s License and Social Security Cards if Necessary

If your driver’s license or social security number were stolen, you will need to have new ones issued. You can contact your local DMV (Department of Motor Vehicles) and Social Security office to get them replaced, or have new ones issued.

Step 6: Check Your Credit Report Each Year

Once an identity thief has your information, it is safe to assume that they always have it. For this reason alone, make sure that you check your credit reports at least once a year. You can check all three of your credit reports for free each year by visiting Annual Credit Report.com.

If you are not comfortable checking your credit reports only once a year you can purchase a credit monitoring service that will let you check your reports any time you want to. Access to all three of your credit reports typically runs about $30 a month.

All three credit bureaus offer this service. I have tried all of them, and I recommend Experian’s credit monitoring service over the other two. For $30 you get to see your reports from all three credit bureaus, all laid out on one page. Experian also offers some basic identity theft protection as part of their service. It’s far and away the best deal if you do end up needing to monitor your credit reports.

Step 7: Check Your Police Report Each Year

While your initial worry is going to be how much money you will be liable for when your identity is stolen, don’t forget to check your police reports each year. False identities are used in crimes all the time, and you don’t want yours to be one of them. For more information on how to do that you can check out this article titled, “In Case of Identity Theft, Check Your Criminal Records“.