Steps to Take After Your Identity Has Been Compromised

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Over the past few years, identity theft has become an increasingly prevalent issue, affecting over 14 million people across the United States in 2018. Approximately a quarter of these victims have suffered from unreimbursed costs as a result of the crimes, with the average loss being $375, according to reports by the Federal Trade Commission.

While not every case related to fraud has had to do with identity theft, it does make up one of the largest complaints filed to the FTC across 2018. As a result, quite a large number of people go through a significant amount of anguish as a result of identity theft.

However, quite a substantial number of them don’t know what to do after being the victim of such a crime. While many people will think of getting a replacement social security card, few know what to do beyond this. Though there will be a few required steps that will be needed that many people might know, there is quite a large number that many people may overlook.

With how essential these steps can be to protect a person’s finances, this shouldn’t be the case. As such, there are a few steps in particular that every victim of identity theft should take immediately following the crime.

Report the Identity Theft

Reporting the identity theft is one of the first steps that every victim should take. The first people who should be noted are the Federal Trade Commission (FTC), who will then be able to help in a variety of ways. One of the more prominent of these is that they’ll be able to help victims create a recovery plan following the crime, which can be quite useful if there’s been a large financial impact.

Alongside this, the victims should also receive an Identity Theft Report, which will be vital in a variety of ways. This is especially true when trying to get financial costs reimbursed from banks or other institutions, as well as preventing any other damage being done in this regard.

The Identity Theft Report should be quite easy to obtain, as is typically available immediately after filing a report. This will then be needed should a police report be filed, and may be required for any creditors that resulted from identity theft. As a result, reporting the theft to the FTC will be needed before being able to file to a variety of other agencies.

When filing a police report, victims will need to list every financial account that may have been affected by the crime. Alongside this, they will need to provide their FTC Identity Theft Report and as much documented information related to the accounts as possible. Following this, it’s recommended that victims ask for a company of their police report.

Check Your Credit Reports

Checking credit reports is a step that every victim of identity theft will need to take. This is something that should be relatively easy to do, as the majority of people can take advantage of at least one free credit report from each major credit agency. As a result, potential victims will be able to comb through their records quite quickly.

When doing so, if any fraudulent behavior is detected, then it’s recommended that a victim enacts a credit freeze. Doing so should be free and will involve contacting each of the three main reporting agencies and requesting the freeze be put in place. Once done, this will prevent them from releasing a victim’s report to new creditors.

Alongside this, the majority of people should also be able to place a fraud alert in place for any future activities. The credit freeze shouldn’t have a time limit, and victims should be able to remove it anytime they want.

It’s also recommended that victims continue to check their reports over the following few months to ensure that no other fraudulent behavior takes place. It can also be essential to get any fraudulent activity removed from the credit statements as soon as possible.

When doing so, they’ll need a copy of their Identity Theft Report alongside the details of the fraudulent behavior. This should ensure that victims wouldn’t be contacted to pay off any debts that they didn’t accumulate.

Tighten Security on All of Your Accounts

While this is one of the last steps that an identity theft victim should take, it should be just as vital. The primary reason for this is that it should prevent any future fraudulent activities from taking place. This should apply to each of the accounts that may have been affected, as well as any that may have used the same passwords.

It can be vital that victims follow best practices when creating these passwords, which should include using numbers and symbols alongside letters, and much more. Another aspect they should avoid is using a date of birth or any other obvious information when creating these passwords, as these can be quite easy to guess.

Should people struggle to remember these passwords, there are a variety of password managers that are quite secure that they should be able to take advantage of.

Get a New Social Security Card

Getting a replacement social security card is a step that quite a large number of identity fraud victims will think of. However, there may be more involved in this than many people might think. While the majority of people will be able to order a replacement card online, there are a few other notable aspects involved.

For example, many people may need to notify the Office of the Inspector General, especially if they suspect that their social security number has been used fraudulently. The majority of people will also be able to receive a copy of their Personal Earnings and Benefits Statement, which they should then check for accuracy.

This should be relatively simple to do, and most people should be able to download this by setting up an account on the SSA website. Through this, they should be able to access all of the information they need and closely monitor their overall statement.

Alongside this, victims of identity theft should also check whether any of their other identification has been fraudulently used. For a driver’s license, this should be as simple as contacting the Department of Motor Vehicles, during which time they’ll be able to report the card and get a replacement.

Alongside this, if there’s the suspicion that the original driver’s license will be used fraudulently in the future, the DMV should be able to flag and prevent this. As a result, this is a step that’s highly recommended. A stolen passport will have to go through a similar process, although it will be the State Department that the theft must be reported to.

Following this, a victim will have to replace their passport, with there being two ways that this can be done. The first of these is a Passport Center or Agency, with the second option being to apply through a passport acceptance facility. Either choice may take a certain amount of time, however, which can also be said of replacing either of the other cards.

With how much damage identity fraud can do, it’s vital to take proactive steps to avoid it as much as possible. This should naturally include taking precautions against hacking, which should mean having different passwords for various online accounts and ensuring that these are as difficult to guess as possible. Alongside this, regularly monitoring credit accounts and various other financial reports can be essential, with this helping people to identify any potentially fraudulent behavior.