If you find yourself a victim of identity theft you must become immediately proactive in correcting the problem.\u00a0 This is one time you do not want procrastinate.\u00a0 Start fixing the problem and start on it now.<\/p>\n
If the theft was the result of someone stealing your purse or wallet, the first thing you must do is file a police report.\u00a0 After you obtain the report, you want to copy this report several times and leave one in your car, put one in your new wallet, and leave a good supply at home.<\/p>\n
The reason for this is that if the police stop you for some other reason such as a warning for a broken taillight, you do not want to spend time in jail.\u00a0 If the person who has stolen your identity is caught by the police while carrying out some other crime, if they are holding your identity they will hand over your credentials when questioned.<\/p>\n
Once the authorities release that individual on bond, he or she will probably never show at their court hearing. \u00a0Guess who will have an arrest warrant against them later?\u00a0 Yep, you guessed it.\u00a0 You will.\u00a0 This is why it is important to always carry the police report of the theft of your wallet.\u00a0 It is not a guarantee against a false arrest of this nature, but it will go a long way in helping your case.<\/p>\n
The first thing to do after losing or having your wallet stolen, it is to cancel all of your credit card accounts and have them replaced.\u00a0 You will also need to replace all of the other documents in your wallet such as your driver\u2019s license and any other identification.<\/p>\n
The question becomes one of remembering what was in your wallet.\u00a0 Here is a suggestion, but you need to be careful with this.\u00a0 Take your wallet and scan everything in it.\u00a0 Take the scanned document and secure it\u00a0in a very safe place.\u00a0 Anyone obtaining this document would have all the information as if they had stolen your wallet.<\/p>\n
After the police report, replacement of your identification, and the closing of your charge card accounts, the next thing you have to do is place a fraud alert against your name.\u00a0 You can do this by calling one or all three of the credit bureaus.<\/p>\n
This is an important step in protecting your identity.\u00a0 Basically what the fraud alert does is add another layer of security to your credit.\u00a0 It can be a cumbersome process, but after having lost your identity, it is well worth the safeguard.<\/p>\n
With the fraud alert placed against your name, whenever you try to open up a new account, the credit bureau will contact you at the location you have given them in order to authorize the new credit line.\u00a0 In setting up the fraud alert, you will supply the credit bureau with the answers to several challenge questions.\u00a0 If they don\u2019t get the correct response to the questions over the phone, they will not authorize the credit.<\/p>\n
You can contact the credit bureaus directly by Internet or phone.\u00a0 They are: Experian at http:\/\/www.experian.com<\/a> or 1-888-397-3742; TransUnion at http:\/\/www.transunion.com<\/a> or 1-800-680-7289; and Equifax at http:\/\/www.equifax.com<\/a> or 1-888-766-0008.\u00a0 Another thing you may consider is credit and fraud protection, commercial company such as LifeLock.<\/p>\n Here\u2019s hoping never have to use any of this information.<\/p>\n -30-<\/p>\n \u00a9 2010 J. Clark<\/em><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":" If you find yourself a victim of identity theft you must become immediately proactive in correcting the problem.\u00a0 This is one time you do not want procrastinate.\u00a0 Start fixing the problem and start on it now. If the theft was … Continue reading