ese institutions have steps they can take to both help the police in their investigation and limit the harm done to you by the perpetrator of the crime. You may need to issue stop payment on certain checks or possibly close and open a new account. Debit and credit cards should probably be replaced. Your banks, credit companies, and other businesses you may have a financial relationship with cannot begin to help to protect Identity theft prevention information is readily found in print, online, or in person from your banker or investment professional. Most of this advice is good advice and there certainly are steps you can take to prevent identity theft from happening to you. But what if the unthinkable has already happened? What if you are a victim of identity theft? What do you do then? Here are some steps that should be taken if you think you may be a victim of identity theft. Many of the steps to take are not that different from steps you would take if a physical asset had been stolen from you. The key is to take action immediately upon finding out this may have happened to you.

Call the police. Whether electronic or physical theft occurred you still need to let your local law enforcement authorities know of the issue. If, by chance, your home or apartment was broken into and sensitive information was missing your first call must be to the police department so they can start the investigation. The same is true if you think your online information was compromised and someone is now using your identity to make purchases or access your funds or available credit. Letting the police know gets the ball rolling and is still your best bet for catching the crooks. In turn, the police will also have a list of other identity theft protection resources to aid you.

Don’t procrastinate. Immediately notify any financial or business institutions in which you have assets or accounts. Most businesses today that deal in finances and/or credit have active fraud watch programs and personnel. Unfortunately this will not be a new situation for them as it is getting to be a more mainstream crime. These institutions have steps they can take to both help the police in their investigation and limit the harm done to you by the perpetrator of the crime. You may need to issue stop payment on certain checks or possibly close and open a new account. Debit and credit cards should probably be replaced. Your banks, credit companies, and other businesses you may have a financial relationship with cannot begin to help to protect y

nk you may be a victim of identity theft. Many of the steps to take are not that different from steps you would take if a physical asset had been stolen from you. The key is to take action immediately upon finding out this may have happened to you.

Call the police. Whether electronic or physical theft occurred you still need to let your local law enforcement authorities know of the issue. If, by chance, your home or apartment was broken into and sensitive information was missing your first call must be to the police department so they can start the investigation. The same is true if you think your online information was compromised and someone is now using your identity to make purchases or access your funds or available credit. Letting the police know gets the ball rolling and is still your best bet for catching the crooks. In turn, the police will also have a list of other identity theft protection resources to aid you.

Don’t procrastinate. Immediately notify any financial or business institutions in which you have assets or accounts. Most businesses today that deal in finances and/or credit have active fraud watch programs and personnel. Unfortunately this will not be a new situation for them as it is getting to be a more mainstream crime. These institutions have steps they can take to both help the police in their investigation and limit the harm done to you by the perpetrator of the crime. You may need to issue stop payment on certain checks or possibly close and open a new account. Debit and credit cards should probably be replaced. Your banks, credit companies, and other businesses you may have a financial relationship with cannot begin to help to protect

apartment was broken into and sensitive information was missing your first call must be to the police department so they can start the investigation. The same is true if you think your online information was compromised and someone is now using your identity to make purchases or access your funds or available credit. Letting the police know gets the ball rolling and is still your best bet for catching the crooks. In turn, the police will also have a list of other identity theft protection resources to aid you.

Don’t procrastinate. Immediately notify any financial or business institutions in which you have assets or accounts. Most businesses today that deal in finances and/or credit have active fraud watch programs and personnel. Unfortunately this will not be a new situation for them as it is getting to be a more mainstream crime. These institutions have steps they can take to both help the police in their investigation and limit the harm done to you by the perpetrator of the crime. You may need to issue stop payment on certain checks or possibly close and open a new account. Debit and credit cards should probably be replaced. Your banks, credit companies, and other businesses you may have a financial relationship with cannot begin to help to protect

the police will also have a list of other identity theft protection resources to aid you.

Don’t procrastinate. Immediately notify any financial or business institutions in which you have assets or accounts. Most businesses today that deal in finances and/or credit have active fraud watch programs and personnel. Unfortunately this will not be a new situation for them as it is getting to be a more mainstream crime. These institutions have steps they can take to both help the police in their investigation and limit the harm done to you by the perpetrator of the crime. You may need to issue stop payment on certain checks or possibly close and open a new account. Debit and credit cards should probably be replaced. Your banks, credit companies, and other businesses you may have a financial relationship with cannot begin to help to protect

ese institutions have steps they can take to both help the police in their investigation and limit the harm done to you by the perpetrator of the crime. You may need to issue stop payment on certain checks or possibly close and open a new account. Debit and credit cards should probably be replaced. Your banks, credit companies, and other businesses you may have a financial relationship with cannot begin to help to protect you until you notify them of the problem.

File a fraud alert. Either over the phone or via their websites notify one of the three major credit reporting companies of the possibility of your identity being stolen, then file a fraud alert on your social security number. Once a fraud alert has been placed on your social security number it will be much more difficult for any company anywhere to extend credit to anyone using your social security number. They will have to adhere to more stringent guidelines when doing so. In many cases you will also have to authorize any new extensions of credit over the phone from a pre-approved phone number that you have setup.

Examine your credit report. The next thing you need to do is order your credit report, you should be eligible for a free one because of the fraud alert you placed on your social security number. Study your credit report looking for any instances of current accounts with unusual activity or reports of credit applications by businesses you have not applied for credit with. You should also close any inactive accounts you find on your credit report. If any questionable information is found on your credit report, follow up with someone from the company that provided it for you.

Identity theft, in some cases, cannot be stopped. But, how active you are in your response to the problem might prove to be the difference between it being a minor annoyance and it being a life changing event. You have the power to put limits on how much the thieves have access to, the trick is to do it right away.