How to Report Identity Theft

Warning Signs of Identity Theft

Identity theft often starts with small, easy-to-miss warning signs. Knowing what to look for can help you catch fraud early and take steps to protect your finances.

• Unfamiliar accounts or inquiries appear on your credit report. Seeing unfamiliar credit cards, loans or hard inquiries on your credit reports could mean someone used your personal information to apply for credit in your name.
• Credit card balances unexpectedly increase. Your credit report may show unusually high balances on your legitimate credit card accounts if someone is making unauthorized purchases with them.
• Your credit scores drop unexpectedly. Fraudulent accounts in your name can lower your credit scores if the thief runs up balances and misses payments.
• Unrecognized transactions appear on your statements. Even a small cash withdrawal or purchase you don't recognize could indicate a thief has gained access to your debit card, credit card or bank account.
• A lender denies your credit application. Being turned down for a credit card or loan (despite having good credit) may signal that fraudulent activity has damaged your credit profile.
• You receive notices about unfamiliar accounts or benefits. Correspondence about a new credit card, loan, unemployment benefits, government programs or medical services you didn't apply for may indicate someone is using your identity.
• Financial mail stops arriving. If you haven't received bank statements, tax documents or bills you were expecting, it could mean someone changed your mailing address to conceal identity theft.
• You're locked out of online accounts. If your password no longer works or your recovery information has changed without your knowledge, someone may have taken over the account.

How to Report Identity Theft

Depending on what the identity thieves stole and how they use it, you may want to report the identity theft to various organizations. Here's a list of steps you may want to take if you suspect or know someone stole your identity.

1. Report the Fraud to Your Creditors

Identity thieves can wreak havoc on your finances if they gain access to your bank, credit card and investment accounts. They may be able to steal money, open new financial accounts, change your contact information, make purchases with your credit cards and more. All of this can damage your credit and drain your funds.

Contact each bank, lender and card issuer where you've noticed unauthorized account activity. Let them know you've been affected by identity theft and credit fraud.

The creditor can work with you to reverse the transactions and close the fraudulent accounts. You may also want to close legitimate accounts and open new ones to avoid future financial fraud.

2. Notify Other Companies, Agencies and Service Providers

Criminals can do more than exploit your financial accounts after stealing your identity. In addition to your bank, credit card issuer and investment broker, here are some other providers you may need to contact:

• The IRS: You can report tax fraud to the IRS if you suspect someone else filed your tax return to claim your refund. Also consider requesting a free Identity Protection PIN from the IRS.
• Government agencies: Criminals may also apply for unemployment and Social Security benefits using your information. Contact your former employers, your state's unemployment agency and/or the Office of the Inspector General to report the fraud.
• Law enforcement: A crime can be linked to you if someone uses your identity when questioned or arrested by law enforcement. Contact the agency handling the case and file a police report with your local police department.
• Employers: If someone used your identity to get a job, contact the employer's human resources department. They may be able to correct employment records and help prevent additional misuse of your personal information.
• Health care providers: Scammers may try to use your information to get medical procedures or prescriptions. Contact your medical care providers to report fraud and fix errors in your medical records.
• Loyalty program provider: If someone uses your rewards points or miles without your permission, contact the loyalty program provider. Ask them to freeze your account, investigate unauthorized redemptions, and restore stolen points or miles.
• The USPS: Send a report to the U.S. Postal Inspection Service (USPIS) if you think someone stole your identity by stealing your mail.
• Your state's motor vehicle department: If someone stole your driver's license or driver's license information, report the theft to your state's department of motor vehicles.

3. File a Report With the Federal Trade Commission

File a complaint with the Federal Trade Commission (FTC) on IdentityTheft.gov. The FTC will create an FTC Identity Theft Report, which you can use to report the identity theft to some organizations and correct your accounts.

The FTC will also create a personalized recovery plan based on the information you provided. If you create an account on the FTC's websites, you can save your plan, get help completing the steps with prefilled forms and update your plan.

4. Consider Filing a Police Report

You can report the identity theft to your local police department as well. The police might be able to investigate if the identity thieves got your personal information after stealing your wallet or mail.

Even if the local police department might not be able to help—such as when the identity thieves live in a different country—a police report can be important. Some organizations might ask you for a copy of the report before investigating your fraud claim.

What to Do After Reporting Identity Theft

After contacting the appropriate providers and filing fraud reports, take these steps to help secure your identity going forward.

Update Your Account Passwords and Security Settings

The identity thieves might gain access to your online accounts. As a precautionary measure, update the passwords on your accounts that contain personal information, including your financial accounts, social media profiles and email.

Use a unique password for each account, and don't use a common theme or pattern. A password manager can make creating and filling in these passwords much easier. Alternatively, a password manager might be able to create passkeys for your accounts, which could be an even safer option.

Then review the security settings in your accounts. If multifactor authentication (MFA) is an option, enable it to help keep fraudsters out of your account even if they're able to guess or crack your password.

Add a Fraud Alert to Your Credit Reports

You have the right to add a free fraud alert to the credit reports maintained by each one of the three major credit bureaus (Experian, TransUnion and Equifax). The alert tells creditors they should take extra steps to verify your identity before granting you credit.

Once you add a fraud alert to one credit report, that credit bureau will pass on your request to the other two. These initial fraud alerts stay on your reports for one year, although you can renew the alerts. An extended fraud alert stays on your credit reports for seven years.

Both types of fraud alerts can help protect your identity, but they may also add extra verification steps when you apply for new credit.

Add Security Freezes to Your Consumer Reports

You also have the right to add security freezes to various types of consumer reports, which limit access to these reports. If an identity thief tries to open a new account in your name, the organization might not be able to review your report and won't approve the application.

For example, three types of reports that you can freeze and unfreeze for free are:

• Credit reports: Freezing your credit reports could stop creditors from approving new loan or credit card applications. You'll need to request a credit freeze with each credit bureau separately.
• ChexSystems report: ChexSystems is a specialty consumer reporting agency that keeps records of your deposit accounts. Banks and credit unions often check your ChexSystems report when you apply for checking and savings accounts. You can freeze your ChexSystem report to limit access to your report and avoid identity fraud.
• National Consumer Telecom and Utilities Exchange (NCTUE): The NCTUE is another speciality consumer reporting agency that keeps records of your payments with utility, telecommunication, TV and home security companies. Freezing your NCTUE report might help keep someone from opening one of these types of accounts in your name.

Other agencies collect consumer information and may have a report on file with your details. You can review the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau's list of consumer reporting companies and check whether you can freeze various types of reports.

Check Your Credit Report for Signs of Fraud

You may want to closely review your three credit reports for signs of identity theft, such as an account you didn't open or an unusual alias or address in your personal information. If you spot any, you can contact the creditors to close the fraudulent accounts. You also have the right to dispute inaccurate information with the credit bureaus.

Dispute Inaccurate Information on Your Credit Report

Creditors may send updates to all three credit bureaus after you report fraudulent accounts or activity to them. Additionally, you have the right to file a dispute with each of the three credit bureaus directly if there's inaccurate information in your credit reports. The credit bureau can then investigate the account or information and either verify what's being reported, update or delete the information.

Regularly Monitor Your Credit

Monitoring your credit reports can help you spot identity theft early.

For example, an identity thief might apply for a new credit card in your name and have the card mailed to a different address or monitor your mailbox and steal the card when it's delivered. However, the credit application could result in a hard inquiry, and credit monitoring tools might send you an immediate alert. You can then take steps to close the account before the fraudster can receive or use the card.

Experian's free credit monitoring will warn you about changes and potentially suspicious activity in your credit file, including new credit inquiries.

The Bottom Line

Free credit monitoring can help you detect identity theft and stop identity fraud, but it only monitors your credit reports. An Experian premium membership comes with additional types of monitoring, such as Social Security number and financial account monitoring. It also includes fraud resolution support and identity theft insurance, which could help cover costs related to recovering your identity.