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What steps to take if you are a victim of identity theft?
Posted on Apr 11, 2008 by Tom Fragala
Wrong question. If you are expecting to see a list here of several things to do if you are a victim of identity theft, look elsewhere (although you'll probably get bad advice). Why? Because asking what steps to take if you are a victim of ID theft, is like asking me what steps to take if you feel sick. No generic list of steps will ever come close to helping you properly address an identity theft issue.
First, the term "identity theft" is broad and ill-defined. Some people don't even consider existing credit card fraud identity theft. Second, it depends on what specifically is wrong. I'm surprised that in 2008 there are still so many experts that attempt to answer that question with a short list--and without explaining that it depends on what has happened. Credit card account takeover is very different from ATM/debit card fraud, for example.
If someone says you should file a police report, or contact the FTC (useless), or even contact the credit bureaus (a better term is "consumer credit reporting companies"), you are getting the wrong answer. The correct answer is a question, such as "what has happened?" or "what type of personal, credit or financial information has been compromised?" If someone has stolen your checkbook, contacting the credit bureaus might be a dangerous waste of time--distracting you from taking steps you must perform immediately. However, it might be the right thing to do if the thief also took your social security number.
Take away: no static list of steps or printed boilerplate ID theft "kit" can provide you an appropriate response to most identity theft situations.
Filed under: Identity Theft, Tips
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