The Federal Trade Commission [1] has a new resource to help people whose identity is stolen, to report the
[2] theft and begin the restoration process at IdentityTheft.gov [1]. In addition to engaging in the FTC process, we recommend the following basic first steps:
- Contact any financial entities you deal with:
- Banks
- Credit Cards
- Investment companies
- Freeze your credit with reporting agencies [3]
- Pull and review your credit reports [4] to look for anything unusual
- Review the last few of months of bank statements and credit card statements
- Get a PIN from the IRS [5] to prevent fraudulent returns filed on your behalf
This is a short and far-from-comprehensive list to get started on when you have your identity stolen. If you need help protecting yourself from further fraud, contact a ShindelRock tax professional [6].