Recovering from Identity Theft | Federal Trade Commission
This video shows what do to if someone steals your identity. After calling your credit card company, go to https://www.identitytheft.gov to find out what else you need to do. ****************************** Transcript: When Thomas got his credit card statement, he wasn't worried. He had finally paid off his bill. So he know he didn't own any money. But when Thomas looked at his statement, he found thousands of dollars in charges he didn't recognize. Someone stole his identity, so Thomas got busy. He called his credit card company right away. Then he went to identitytheft.gov to find out what else he needed to do. First, Thomas answered questions about what happened to him. He gave information about the crime, along with his name and address. Based on his information, Thomas got a recovery plan to help him fix the problems caused by his identity theft. His plan told him to put a fraud alert on his credit report and to get a free copy of his credit report from annualcreditreport.com. And because Thomas has created a free account at identitytheft.gov, he got even more help. He got a personalized letter he could send to the credit card company asking them to fix the problems. And the site helped him keep track of his recovery steps. Thomas had more to do to stop the damage the identity thief had caused, but because he acted so fast in the beginning, it all turned out OK in the end. ****************************** The Federal Trade Commission deals with issues that touch the economic life of every American. It is the only federal agency with both consumer protection and competition jurisdiction in broad sectors of the economy. The FTC pursues vigorous and effective law enforcement; advances consumers' interests by sharing its expertise with federal and state legislatures and U.S. and international government agencies; develops policy and research tools through hearings, workshops, and conferences; and creates practical and plain-language educational programs for consumers and businesses in a global marketplace with constantly changing technologies. Comment Moderation Policy We welcome your comments and thoughts about the information on this page. If you do have something to say, please be courteous and respectful to other commenters. We won't routinely review or edit any comments before they are posted, but we will delete any comments that: 1) contain spam or are off-topic 2) use vulgar language or offensive terms that target specific groups or contain personal attacks 3) are sales pitches, promotions, urls or links to commercial sites 4) spread clearly misleading or false information or 5) include personal information, like home addresses
This video shows what do to if someone steals your identity. After calling your credit card company, go to https://www.identitytheft.gov to find out what else you need to do. ****************************** Transcript: When Thomas got his credit card statement, he wasn't worried. He had finally paid off his bill. So he know he didn't own any money. But when Thomas looked at his statement, he found thousands of dollars in charges he didn't recognize. Someone stole his identity, so Thomas got busy. He called his credit card company right away. Then he went to identitytheft.gov to find out what else he needed to do. First, Thomas answered questions about what happened to him. He gave information about the crime, along with his name and address. Based on his information, Thomas got a recovery plan to help him fix the problems caused by his identity theft. His plan told him to put a fraud alert on his credit report and to get a free copy of his credit report from annualcreditreport.com. And because Thomas has created a free account at identitytheft.gov, he got even more help. He got a personalized letter he could send to the credit card company asking them to fix the problems. And the site helped him keep track of his recovery steps. Thomas had more to do to stop the damage the identity thief had caused, but because he acted so fast in the beginning, it all turned out OK in the end. ****************************** The Federal Trade Commission deals with issues that touch the economic life of every American. It is the only federal agency with both consumer protection and competition jurisdiction in broad sectors of the economy. The FTC pursues vigorous and effective law enforcement; advances consumers' interests by sharing its expertise with federal and state legislatures and U.S. and international government agencies; develops policy and research tools through hearings, workshops, and conferences; and creates practical and plain-language educational programs for consumers and businesses in a global marketplace with constantly changing technologies. Comment Moderation Policy We welcome your comments and thoughts about the information on this page. If you do have something to say, please be courteous and respectful to other commenters. We won't routinely review or edit any comments before they are posted, but we will delete any comments that: 1) contain spam or are off-topic 2) use vulgar language or offensive terms that target specific groups or contain personal attacks 3) are sales pitches, promotions, urls or links to commercial sites 4) spread clearly misleading or false information or 5) include personal information, like home addresses