Finance and Law

Got Your Identity Stolen? Here’s Your Recovery Guide

<p style&equals;"text-align&colon; justify&semi;">There might be things worse than having your identity stolen&comma; but that doesn’t mean it’s not still a nightmare&period; Restoring your financial reputation and getting your life back can be a long process&comma; depending on how much damage was done&period; If you just had a credit card number stolen&comma; all you’ll likely need to do is call your credit card company to open a fraud investigation and close the account&period; But if someone is using your personal information to open new accounts&comma; steal your tax refund or <a href&equals;"https&colon;&sol;&sol;newsforpublic&period;com&sol;choosing-social-security-disability-attorneys&sol;">Social Security<&sol;a> benefits&comma; or buy things in your name&comma; you’ll need to follow these steps to recover&period;<&sol;p>&NewLine;<h2 style&equals;"text-align&colon; justify&semi;">Call Your Insurance Provider<&sol;h2>&NewLine;<p style&equals;"text-align&colon; justify&semi;">Do you have identity theft insurance&quest; If you do&comma; call your insurance provider and explain that you believe your identity has been stolen – they’ll walk you through the next steps&period; They can even call the bank&comma; government agencies&comma; and creditors with you to explain the situation&period;<&sol;p>&NewLine;<p style&equals;"text-align&colon; justify&semi;">If you don’t <a href&equals;"https&colon;&sol;&sol;www&period;trendmicro&period;com&sol;en&lowbar;us&sol;forHome&sol;products&sol;premium-security-suite&period;html">use any identity security services<&sol;a>&comma; that doesn’t mean you don’t have identity theft insurance&period; Contact your homeowners insurance or talk to your employer&period; You may have coverage and not realize it&period;<&sol;p>&NewLine;<h2 style&equals;"text-align&colon; justify&semi;">Freeze Your Credit<&sol;h2>&NewLine;<p style&equals;"text-align&colon; justify&semi;">The fact is that even after you’ve discovered that your identity has been stolen&comma; thieves can keep opening new accounts as fast as you can shut them down&period; Call one of the three major credit bureaus – Experian&comma; Transunion&comma; and Equifax – and put a freeze on your credit&period; This will stop anyone from opening any new credit accounts in your name&period; If you want to open a new account yourself in the future&comma; you’ll need to call and have the freeze removed&period;<&sol;p>&NewLine;<h2>Place a Fraud Alert on Your Credit Report<&sol;h2>&NewLine;<p style&equals;"text-align&colon; justify&semi;">If you don’t want to freeze your credit&comma; you can at least put a fraud alert on your <a href&equals;"https&colon;&sol;&sol;newsforpublic&period;com&sol;capio-partners-remove-credit-report&sol;">credit report<&sol;a>&period; This will let creditors know that your identity has been stolen and that new credit inquiries could be fraudulent in nature&period; A fraud alert typically lasts a year&period;<&sol;p>&NewLine;<h2 style&equals;"text-align&colon; justify&semi;">Start Notifying Concerned Parties<&sol;h2>&NewLine;<p style&equals;"text-align&colon; justify&semi;">Immediately start calling companies that have been the recipient of fraudulent transactions in your name to notify them&period; You can get fraudulent or compromised accounts shut down&period; If an identity thief has been posing as you&comma; contact your health insurance provider to make sure they can’t use your health insurance to get care&period; If your Social Security number has been compromised&comma; contact the IRS and the Social Security Administration &lpar;SSA&rpar;&period;<&sol;p>&NewLine;<h2 style&equals;"text-align&colon; justify&semi;">File a Police Report<&sol;h2>&NewLine;<p style&equals;"text-align&colon; justify&semi;">A police report can help you get further when it comes to disputing fraudulent transactions and accounts in your name&period; It also creates a paper trail if&comma; for example&comma; the person who stole your identity commits a crime and then poses as you to the police&period; If the identity thief is local&comma; police may be able to actually find them and bring them to justice&period;<&sol;p>&NewLine;<h2 style&equals;"text-align&colon; justify&semi;">File a Report with the FTC<&sol;h2>&NewLine;<p style&equals;"text-align&colon; justify&semi;">If someone steals your tax refund&comma; opens new accounts in your name&comma; or makes purchases in your name&comma; you need to <a href&equals;"http&colon;&sol;&sol;identitytheft&period;gov&sol;&num;&sol;" target&equals;"&lowbar;blank" rel&equals;"noopener">file a report with the Federal Trade Commission &lpar;FTC&rpar;<&sol;a>&period; The FTC may be able to give information about your case to the FBI so they can find the perpetrator&period; They can also give you paperwork that you can use to dispute fraudulent accounts and charges and file a police report&period;<&sol;p>&NewLine;<h2 style&equals;"text-align&colon; justify&semi;">Secure Your Accounts<&sol;h2>&NewLine;<p style&equals;"text-align&colon; justify&semi;">Change all your online passwords&comma; especially those for your financial accounts&period; Use a different password for each one of your online accounts&period; Make sure your passwords are strong&period; Turn on multi-factor authentication &lpar;MFA&rpar; for email and financial accounts&comma; and any other accounts that offer it&period; You might even consider using an authenticator app for an additional layer of security&period;<&sol;p>&NewLine;<h2>Check Your Credit Report and Financial Statements<&sol;h2>&NewLine;<p style&equals;"text-align&colon; justify&semi;">Make sure you thoroughly check your credit report for any new inquiries or accounts that you’ll have to dispute&period; Comb through your bank and credit card statements for fraudulent transactions and dispute them&comma; too&period; You may end up needing to close your existing accounts and open new ones&comma; but that’s often the only way to lock thieves back out of your accounts&period;<&sol;p>&NewLine;<p style&equals;"text-align&colon; justify&semi;">Getting your identity stolen is never fun&period; It can be a lot of hassle to dispute fraudulent accounts and charges&comma; file a police report&comma; and call your bank&comma; credit bureaus&comma; and various government agencies to warn them that someone is impersonating you&period; That’s why it’s a good idea to have identity theft protection before anything occurs&period; You can get protection against identity theft&comma; help with recovery&comma; and insurance to cover your financial losses&period;<&sol;p>&NewLine;

Hardik Patel

Hardik Patel is a Digital Marketing Consultant and professional Blogger. He has 16+ years experience in SEO, SMO, SEM, Online reputation management, Affiliated Marketing and Content Marketing.

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