Identity Theft Recovery Plan

Identity theft happens when someone steals your personal information and uses it without your permission to commit fraud and other crimes. If your identity has been stolen, you must act quickly to resolve the problem.

Take the following steps to minimize the damage:

• Call the fraud department for the companies where you know the fraud has occurred and notify them that someone has stolen your identity.
• Close new accounts that were fraudulently opened in your name.
• Freeze your credit and place a fraud alert. This can protect you from identity theft or prevent further misuse of your personal information if stolen. It’s free to place a credit freeze or fraud alert by simply contacting each of the three credit bureaus – Equifax, Experian and TransUnion.
  • Fraud Alert: Anyone who suspects fraud can place a fraud alert on their credit report. A fraud alert lasts one year. After a year, you can renew it.
  • Freeze: Anyone can freeze their credit report, even if their identity has not been stolen. But you’ll have to lift the freeze before you apply for a new line of credit or any service that requires a credit check. Its free to lift a credit freeze.
• Monitor your accounts. After a data breach, the company whose network was breached will often provide you a free service to monitor your accounts and the dark web to guard against identity theft.   
• Get free weekly online credit report from Equifax, Experian and TransUnion at annualcreditreport.com. Review the information on your credit reports to ensure that the information is correct and up to date.  Be sure to dispute any errors.
• If you suspect someone is fraudulently using your social security number, you can create an account at socialsecurity.gov/myaccount to review your Social Security work history. Report any errors or misuse you find to your local SSA office. 
• Lock your Social Security Number to prevent someone from using your it to obtain employment. Do this by setting-up an E-Verify account at e-verify.gov/mye-verify.  
• Change logins and PINS for your all your accounts.  Using strong passphrases and different ones for different accounts and changing them periodically will help keep your accounts secure.    
• Sign up for two-factor authentication. Two-factor authentication adds another layer of security on top of your login and passphrases.
• Visit the Federal Trade Commission’s website for more tips and to create a personal recovery plan.