If you want to guard against identity theft, read the articles in our info center or consider Lifelock. If it’s already happened to you, though -- it’s not your fault! Nevertheless, after an ID theft incident, you need to respond quickly and thoroughly. In most cases, you need to prove you were the victim. A fast, thorough response is the key to identity theft survival.

Here’s what you need to do:

Call the Police: File an identity theft report with the police. This not only speaks to your sincerity, but entitles you to a number of benefits, including:

• A 7 Year Fraud Alert
• The ability to send the police report to fraud departments – and they’ll often request it.
• Copies of fraudulent accounts and transactions that have been made in your name

Contact Your Creditors – and Institutions that Think they’re Your Creditors: Contact every creditor that you have a connection with, including those where the relationship was started by the perpetrator. Direct inquires to their fraud department and keep that police report by your side. Explain the situation.

Contact the Three Credit Reporting Agencies: Call Equifax, Experian and Transunion. Again, make it clear from the outset that you’re reporting identity theft and that you’ve contacted the police. Request credit reports from each agency (you’re entitled to them) and note the date and time.

In addition to calling, write the credit agencies, too. It’s prudent to leave a paper trail whenever possible.

Specify Fraud: Identity theft is an upsetting situation, and the fact that you need to prove you’ve been victimized is often intimidating. Nevertheless, always be up front with why you are contacting police, creditors and credit agencies. Be very clear that you are not contacting them about your actions, but about what has been illegally done in your name. If you are offered specific fraud channels and departments (and you usually will be), take them. No matter your financial situation, center your communications around the fraud.

Get All Paperwork: If you’re thorough (and you should be), you’ll end up with the following:

• A copy of the police report
• Reports of all financial activity, both legitimate and fraudulent (make sure you clearly separate the two)
• Credit reports from each credit agency
• Letters from each financial institution and credit agency confirming the time, date and purpose of your contact.
• Copies of every letter you’ve sent due to this situation.

Don’t skip a single thing.

Get Your Papers in Order: You may be called on to answer questions about any and all financial activity. Make sure your papers are dated and clearly separated into fraud-related items and general financial information.

Take Precautions: The police, financial institutions and credit agencies will help you through steps to deal with the current situation, but remember that being victimized once increases the chance of it happening again. Identity theft perpetrators are often organized and ready to exploit multiple aspects of your identity repeatedly. There are three important aspects:

• Examine your personal security habits. Don’t share personal information on the phone or over the internet except with a trusted institution (such as your bank) – and even then, only do it when you are absolutely sure it really is that institution. (Hint: Your bank never emails you for information.)
• Manage your finances responsibly. This not only minimizes the impact of identity theft, but provides a clear signal that you are normally a financially responsible individual.
• Consider an Identity theft protection service like Lifelock.