What to Do If You're an Identity Theft Victim

In today's day and age, having your personal information stolen can be truly frightening, even more than having your house robbed. Even if the crook doesn't steal your identity and use it as his own, he could sell your data to the highest bidder online or to businesses that deal in personal information.

If you think you might be the victim of identity theft, there are steps you can take to prevent that information from being used fraudulently. First, monitor your bank statement and accounts for the next 3-4 years for any discrepancies. Information security experts recommend that you check your annual statement from Social Security and make sure it matches up with the money you've earned for the year. Keep an eye on your 401(k) balance to see if anyone tries to cash it, and periodically check your credit report to see if any loans you don't remember applying for pop up.

Next, alert your creditors that you may be or have been a fraud victim and put it on your credit report. This tells companies who have to check your report to open an account in your name or modify an account you already have. You need to contact all three credit bureaus (TransUnion, Equifax and Experian) to make sure they put a fraud alert on your report; you can do it by phone with your Social Security number. While the theory is that alerting one credit bureau will in turn alert the other two, it's better to be safe than sorry-especially when it's your identity on the line. The fraud alert will remain on your report for three months, at which time you need to renew it. A fraud alert will not lower your credit score, despite the common myth, so the sooner you do it, the better (and safer) you'll feel.

At this point you may want to sign up for a credit monitoring service. This will alert you to any major changes in any of your credit reports, and under certain circumstances they'll include free access to your credit reports. This is a good idea to keep track of what may be happening to your information, but it won't actually prevent any changes from occurring, so you need to take that into consideration.

You may want to ask your bank to change the numbers on your bank account, especially if you use direct deposit. Use a secure password and PIN (meaning something other than easily researched information like your mother's maiden name, your hometown, your birthday etc.) If your personal information has been compromised, you don't want the thief to have any chance to access more of it through a weak password. The bank will issue you new checks and another debit card, at which time it's recommended you cut up the old ones. If there are any creditors whom you pay electronically, alert them to the change in your information.

While some identity theft victims don't have to worry about this, if you fear the crooks have access to information regarding a 401(k) account or any life insurance policy or stock options you own, change the insurance policy numbers (and passwords) on those as well. If your insurance refuses to change the number, ask them to consider protecting it with a password.

Finally, stop any incoming pre-approved credit card offers. Call the Automated Credit Reporting Industry at 1-888-567-8688 to put a stop to these offers, which are generally sent out by companies who get your credit information from one of the three credit bureaus or other consumer credit information providers.

Losing your information to identity theft is always a nerve-wracking experience, but these steps should assist you in stopping the holes in your financial information.