Immediate Steps to Take if Your Identity is Stolen
Identity theft is when someone unlawfully used your personal information to make purchases. It is one of the fastest growing crimes in the U.S. with a 47% increase from 2014 to 2015 according to the Federal Trade Commission. Being a victim of identity theft is a very stressful and frustrating event in one’s life. It is exhausting to fix the damage that the culprit caused to your finances, credit and most of all - your reputation. What are the initial steps you should take if you hint an identity theft? There are things you can do to minimize the havoc of a possible identity theft case. 1. Put a fraud alert on your credit reports. A fraud alert notifies lenders and creditors that they should carefully verify your identity before approving credit by putting a red flag on your credit report. 2. Place a security freeze in all your credit reports. This prevents potential creditors from accessing your credit reports. Yet, there are other states that don’t allow credit freeze. 3...
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