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Q: My car was broken into that night and stole my purse. I have my driver's license, passport, employee card and a checkbook. We canceled our two credit cards. Should I sign up for your [identity theft protection] services immediately
A: Yes, we strongly encourage you to sign up for a theft protection service identity when possible. Canceling your credit cards is a good start, but a thief could easily use your checkbook to write fraudulent checks. Different banks have different liability policies, so that you can or can not be protected in case this happens. If you have not already notified your bank theft, you should do so immediately.
With so much personal and financial documents, a criminal could also open new accounts in your name. This is one of the most serious related to identity theft risks. To prevent this from happening, you need to contact all three credit bureaus and ask them to place a fraud alert or credit freeze on your credit report.
A fraud alert is a notation on your credit report that allows potential lenders that you have reason to believe that you are a victim of identity theft. fraud alerts expire every ninety days and does not automatically renew. You must reset the fraud alerts every ninety days by contacting each of the credit bureaus directly.
A credit freeze is a more serious measure. It will completely lock your credit report and ensure that no financial accounts are opened in your name. However, this will also prevent you from opening the legitimate financial accounts. There is a small fee in most states to establish a credit freeze.
Here is the contact information for each of the three credit bureaus:
TransUnion: 1-800-680-7289; www.transunion.com; Fraud Division Victims, P. O. Box 6790, Fullerton, CA 92834-6790
Equifax: 1-800-525-6285; www.equifax.com; P. O. Box 740241, Atlanta, GA 30374-0241
Experian: 1-888-EXPERIAN (397-3742); www.experian.com; P. O. Box 9532, Allen, TX 75013
Since you are at high risk of identity theft, you should probably consider an identity theft prevention service such as LifeLock or TrustedID. These services will automatically renew your fraud alerts before they expire, and use various other monitoring techniques to help prevent identity theft. If you are a victim, they help you recover your identity. For more information on identity theft protection services, see our reviews and comparison chart.