| Symptom | First action | Planning use |
|---|---|---|
| Bills for items you did not buy, or debt collection calls for accounts you did not open | Call or email the fraud department of the affected company, bank or credit union | Do this first, before reporting, so the account is closed or frozen and stops accumulating charges |
| Accounts on your credit report that you never opened | Ask the credit bureaus for a fraud alert and a credit freeze | Blocks new credit in your name while you sort out the existing damage |
| A tax return was filed using your information | Complete the Identity Theft Affidavit | Invalidates the fraudulent return, so file it promptly |
| Someone is contacting you and pressing for money or details | Hang up and give nothing | Prevents a second loss while you work through the recovery plan |
| Logins may be exposed | Change passwords, PINs and login details | Closes the door the thief used, starting with email and banking |
Guidance in this table comes from USA.gov and the Texas Attorney General.
If you are asking what to do if your identity is stolen, start by contacting the fraud departments of affected accounts, then report the theft at IdentityTheft.gov and freeze your credit with each bureau.
Identity theft sits alongside burglary and other property crime in everyday risk, so our guide on how to make your home safer from burglars covers the physical side of protecting what you own.
Stop the damage on affected accounts
The first job is to contain the loss. The Texas Attorney General advises you to call or email the fraud department of each company, bank or credit union where an account has been compromised, and to ask for it to be closed or frozen.
Start with the accounts where you can see a problem. USA.gov lists the common warning signs: bills for items you did not buy, and debt collection calls for accounts you did not open. Review your credit card and bank statements line by line and report anything unauthorized or suspicious.
If someone contacts you directly
The IRS advises hanging up and not giving them money or personal or financial information. Do not try to argue or verify the caller on the spot. Use the official channels in the sections below instead.
Symptom to fix: unknown charge on a card or bank account
- Contact the issuer first. The fraud department can close or freeze the account faster than a general customer line can.
- Dispute in writing where needed. The FTC Identity Theft website provides sample letters you can use to dispute charges, according to People’s Law Library of Iowa.
Report identity theft to the FTC and police
Report the theft to the Federal Trade Commission at IdentityTheft.gov or by calling 1-877-438-4338, as USA.gov directs. The Texas Attorney General adds that IdentityTheft.gov is also where you create an identity theft recovery plan, so use the site rather than improvising your own checklist.
Next, contact your police department, report the crime and obtain a police report. This is the step people most often skip, and it matters because United Way notes that your FTC Identity Theft Affidavit together with your police report creates an official Identity Theft Report. Keep copies of both with your dispute letters.
Symptom to fix: you cannot tell where to start
Use IdentityTheft.gov. It turns your answers into a recovery plan, and it keeps the reporting trail in one place that you can refer back to when companies ask for proof.
Freeze your credit with each bureau
A credit freeze is the strongest protection against new accounts opened in your name. Under federal law a security freeze is free, and obtaining one will not affect your credit score, according to the Texas Attorney General. There is no reason to pay a service for it.
Credit freeze steps
- Contact each bureau separately. To obtain a freeze, you must contact each of the credit reporting agencies and comply with their requirements. Expect to prove who you are.
- Expect fast placement. The agency must place the freeze within one business day of a request, per the same office.
- Use the phone lines if you prefer. The fraud alert numbers listed by the Texas Attorney General are Equifax 1-800-349-9960, Experian 1-888-397-3742 and TransUnion 1-888-909-8872.
Fraud alert versus freeze
USA.gov says to ask the three major credit reporting agencies to place fraud alerts and a credit freeze. They are different tools. A fraud alert flags your file; a freeze restricts access to it. The initial alert remains active for a year and can be renewed by you for up to seven years.
For a fraud alert, contacting one agency is enough, because the law requires the agency you call to contact the other two. Do not assume the same applies to a freeze: for that, you must go to each bureau yourself.
Symptom to fix: accounts on your report you did not open
Freeze first, then dispute the entries. You can request a free copy of your credit report every 12 months from each credit reporting agency, according to People’s Law Library of Iowa, so use that to see exactly what the thief opened.
Handle tax-related identity theft
If a fraudulent tax return has been filed with your details, complete the Identity Theft Affidavit. USA.gov states that this will invalidate a fraudulent return filed using your information. Do not wait for a refund problem to surface before acting.
The IRS also tells victims to update their Online Account password and to make it complex and unique. That advice applies to every account you hold, which leads to the next step.
Lock down passwords and keep monitoring
The Texas Attorney General advises changing the passwords, PINs and login information for all potentially affected accounts. Begin with email, because it can reset almost everything else, then banking, then anything that stores payment details.
Complex, unique passwords are hard to remember in bulk. A password manager is a practical way to meet the IRS standard of complex and unique without reusing a password anywhere. Choose one you will actually open daily.
Monitoring routine
Recovery does not end once the reports are filed. United Way recommends checking bank or credit union statements, credit card statements and credit reports regularly. Keep this up for several months after the incident, since a thief may try again with information already stolen.
Prevent a repeat at home
Some theft starts with paper. USA.gov notes that scammers go through trash to retrieve bank statements or tax documents. A shredder at home is a cheap answer: shred statements and tax papers instead of binning them whole.
Identity theft is one risk among several that follow people home and into the driveway. If you want to reduce other opportunistic crime too, see how to prevent catalytic converter theft.
Frequently asked questions
| Question | Answer |
|---|---|
| Is a credit freeze free? | Yes. Under federal law a security freeze is free, and it does not affect your credit score. |
| Do I have to contact all the credit bureaus? | For a freeze, yes: you must contact each credit reporting agency yourself. For a fraud alert, one call is enough because that agency must notify the other two. |
| How do I report identity theft? | Go to IdentityTheft.gov or call the FTC on 1-877-438-4338, then file a report with your police department and keep the police report. |
| What is an Identity Theft Report? | It is the combination of your FTC Identity Theft Affidavit and your police report. Keep both when you dispute accounts. |
