Identity theft is a problem that will most likely never go away.
If you're a victim, you need to take care of this immediately.
Doing the following will take you into the right direction:
* Notify the police, banks, and creditors immediately,
* Obtain a copy of your police report (as evidence of the fraud having been perpetrated),
* Cancel all existing credit cards, accounts, passwords and PINs, and replace them with entirely new ones,
* Call the credit bureaus and ask each to attach a fraud alert and victim's statement to your report,
* Ask creditors to call you prior to adding any new items to your report,
* Have all corrections forwarded to anyone who has received your credit report within the past two years. Ask for a free copy of your report after three months,
* Contact the post office in case the thief has forwarded your mail to their address
* Alert all utility companies that someone has been using your identity fraudulently and inform the appropriate authorities that someone may be abusing your SIN and/or driver's license number,
* Take action to have any criminal or civil judgments against you that may have resulted from your identity thief's actions, permanently removed,
* Keep a log of all your contacts and make copies of all documents. You may also wish to contact a privacy or consumer advocacy group.
I'm still one of those "head in the sand" kind of people who think this won't happen to me. Hopefully I'll never have to use your tips, but I'm glad to have the information. From what I've heard, a person has to be very vigilant after having their identify stolen. The credit bureaus often do not provide the promised notifications, so the consumer has to keep checking regularly.
