Identity Theft...Part III

If you followed parts I and II of this report, you've contacted law enforcement, gotten the proper documentation, and have contacted both the credit bureaus and the creditors listed on your credit report.

You’ve carefully logged every conversation, along with its date and time, and you know just what this has cost you in terms of both time and money.

You’d like to go find this person and do them bodily harm, and no one can blame you.
But instead, you're working to reclaim your financial reputation. And you aren't finished with the work to be done just yet.

You may have discovered this theft by getting a copy of your free credit report. Now its time to take another look, because more information may have come in since the last report.

You're looking for two things – evidence that the credit bureaus have been authorized and have removed the negative entries, AND any new entries that may have come in after the last report.

If you find new problems, contact the credit bureau again and let them know of the new fraudulent accounts or charges.

If either the first or second report showed new accounts opened in your name, but not yet showing as negative entries, the next step is to contact each of those creditors and do the following:
· Notify each creditor of the identity theft and get the address where you need to send the fraud affidavit.
· Ask the creditor to send you a copy of any application that has been made in your name
· Ask to have the account closed and flagged with a fraud alert

If the thief has been using your credit cards, you don't have to close these accounts. You should be able to have the fraudulent charges removed and get new cards, with new numbers. Check to make sure that the address and e-mail address in their database is correct, so they don’t just send your new cards to the thief!

If the identity thief has written checks in your name…

· Call your local police and file another report
· Call your bank and close the account
· Get the proper address to send a copy of the police report
· Ask for a refund of monies fraudulently withdrawn
· And of course, carefully record each of these steps in your log

Identity theft costs millions each year, both in money and time loss. It’s a rude and devastating intrusion into your life. But if you take the steps we’ve outlined, you’ll get through it with the least amount of stress.

http://www.creditscorecowboy.com is an excellent resource for free credit scores, credit reports, identity theft protection and expert advice on how to maintain good credit.