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by: PaulWilcox
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Word Count: 402

You have always prided yourself on meeting your financial obligations. Those obligations consisted of making credit card payments prior to their due date, having only a few credit cards, taking advantage of low interest rates because of your responsible actions, etc.

Recently you've noticed that a few strange things have been going on and you're wondering if you've been an identity theft victim. You've been receiving some phone calls from debt collectors, a credit card has arrived in the mail that you didn't request or maybe you've even been turned down for a revolving charge card because you didn't make payments on something else.

These things may be pointing to the fact that you've become a victim of identity theft. If you think this may have happened, there are a couple of things that you need to do right away, such as notifying fraud departments, check your credit report and definitely report your situation to the police.

Report the Problem to Fraud Departments

The first action that victims of identity theft should take is to report the actuality or possibility of identity theft to the fraud department of the three credit bureaus. Those three credit bureaus are Experian, Equifax and TransUnion. Actually, when an individual reports identity theft to one of the credit bureaus, they in turn will notify the other two.

The action that the credit bureaus will take upon notification of identity theft will be the flagging of the account of the individual. This flagging process means that potential creditors will be required to personally call the individual who is making application for credit.

If you've reported your identity theft, as a victim you can expect your personal account to be flagged for 90 days. After the flagging you will be notified that this has been done and given a list of other rights for victims.

After you've received this information you can obtain a free copy of your credit report. It's also strongly advised that you make a formal request to the three credit bureaus that your account be flagged form the usual 90 days to 7 years.

Check over your credit report closely to look for items that seem out of place. If you find questionable entries you should inform the credit bureaus of them. After reporting the fraudulent activity, the credit bureau is under no obligation to reveal it to others who are authorized to look at your personal credit report.

About the Author

Is your PC secure enough? Find out what you should be doing to keep it safe from viruses, spyware and other internet security threats at the Online Security Toolkit website. Visit http://www.onlinesecuritytoolkit.com for more information.

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