Reader Question: What should I do if I think I have been a victim of identity theft?

Posted by Joe on June 29th, 2008

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Q: I received a $400 bill in my name from a company I have never done business with. I think I may have been the victim of identity theft. What should I do?

A: Receiving financial statements, bills or other correspondence in your name from companies you don’t recognize is a potential sign that you may have been victimized by an identity thief. Here are the steps we suggest you take to remedy the situation:

• Contact the company that sent you the bill. While it could be a sign of identity theft, it may also be a simple mistake by the company. Additionally, contacting the company will alert them to the fact that you are not responsible for the charges.
• Call your local police on their non-emergency number and make arrangements to file a police report. Provide a copy of this police report to the company that sent you the bill as well as to the Federal Trade Commission (se below).
• File a complaint with the Federal Trade Commission. You can file a complaint using this online form.
• Contact each of the three credit bureaus and have them set fraud alerts on your credit report. Fraud alerts are an annotation on your credit file that let potential lenders know that you may have been victimized by identity theft. They can be an effective tool in helping to prevent criminals from using your personal information to secure financial accounts in your name. Technically, you only need to contact one credit bureau and ask them to set a fraud alert and they will coordinate with the other two bureaus on your behalf. We still suggest that you contact all three bureaus because it is relatively simple to do and ensures that there are no administrative issues that may delay or your fraud alerts from being set. Here is the contact information for the three major credit bureaus:

  Equifax: 1-800-525-6285; www.equifax.com; P.O. Box 740241, Atlanta, GA 30374-0241

  Experian: 1-888-EXPERIAN (397-3742); www.experian.com; P.O. Box 9532, Allen, TX 75013

  TransUnion: 1-800-680-7289; www.transunion.com; Fraud Victim Assistance Division, P.O. Box 6790, Fullerton, CA 92834-6790

  Fraud alerts expire every ninety days and do not automatically renew. You will need to reset fraud alerts every ninety days by contacting each of the credit bureaus directly. Alternatively, identity theft protection services such as LifeLock and Trusted ID will set fraud alerts on your credit report on your behalf and will ensure that they don’t lapse by renewing them every ninety days.

Identity theft protection services like LifeLock and Trusted ID can also assist you in ensuring that you are not victimized by identity thieves in the future. Many of them also offer services for consumers that have already been victimized by identity thieves. Learn more about identity theft protection services by visiting our guide to identity theft protection services.

• NextAdvisor.com Fraud Alert and Credit Freeze Guide
• Unlimited credit reports and scores from all 3 bureaus with CreditCheck Total
• Reader Question: Are credit bureau fraud alerts still available?
• Data Breach Alert: Thousands of Dominican University students impacted in secure file breach
• Reader Question: How can LifeLock help me if I have already been a victim of identity theft?