Contact your credit card issuer. If your credit card information has been stolen, contact your credit card issuer as soon as possible. The sooner you let your card issuer know your credit card has been stolen, the less likely it is you’ll have to pay for any charges. If you wait until after you’ve been billed for the charges, you may face up to $50 in credit card charges.

Sometimes thieves open new credit cards in your name. If this is the case, contact the company who issued the card to report the identity theft. You may need to provide a police report or identity theft affidavit to prove that you were indeed a victim of credit card fraud.

Any account that’s been or could be used fraudulently should be closed immediately to prevent future charges.

File a police report. More and more local police stations are adopting procedures for handing credit card fraud and identity theft. Call your local police station to report that your credit cards have been stolen. If they are uncooperative, try working with another police department in your area. For example, you might try the county police station.

File an identity theft affidavit. The Federal Trade Commission (FTC) provides an identity theft affidavit that many banks will accept as proof that you’ve been a victim of credit card fraud. You’re not required to file the form, but it will help the FTC crack down on identity thieves. It will also give your credit card company and the credit bureaus the information they need to handle your identity theft case.

The identity theft affidavit is available online at the FTC’s website. You’ll need a PDF reader like Adobe Acrobat to view the file. You can also call 1-877-ID-THEFT to obtain a copy of the form.

Place a fraud alert on your credit report. A fraud alert lets any business who pulls your credit report know that your identity has been compromised. The fraud alert urges these businesses to take extra steps to confirm you are indeed the one applying for credit.

If only your personal information has been stolen and you haven’t had any fraud occur you can place an initial fraud alert on your credit report for 90 days. This initial fraud alert can be done online, by mail, or by phone. Here is information to add a fraud alert at each of the three credit bureaus:

Equifax: Online Instructions
Phone: 1-800-525-6285
Mail: P.O. Box 740241, Atlanta, GA 30374-0241

Experian: Online Instructions
Phone: 1-888-397-3742
Mail: P.O. Box 9532, Allen, TX 75013

TransUnion: (does not have a link to file a fraud alert online)
Phone: 1-800-630-7289
Mail: Fraud Victim Assistance Division, P.O. Box 6790, Fullerton, CA 92834-6790

If you have definitely been a victim of identity theft, you can place an extended fraud alert on your credit report for seven years. You must request the extended fraud alert in writing. With your request, include a copy of your driver’s license or state ID and a copy of your identity theft report.

Equifax and Experian both provide online forms you can use to request a fraud alert. Both require a PDF reader. TransUnion doesn’t provide such a form. Instead, you should write to the address above to request an extended fraud alert.

Equifax form for extended fraud alert

Experian form for extended fraud alert

There is no fee to add a fraud alert to your credit report when you do it yourself. However, you may have to pay a third-party service if you decide to hire one to add your fraud alerts.

Order your credit report. If you’ve been a victim of identity theft, e.g. credit card fraud where someone has opened a credit card in your name, you’re entitled to a free copy of your credit report.

Under federal law, you can also receive a free credit report whether you’ve been a victim of credit card fraud or not. Visit AnnualCreditReport.com to receive a copy of your free credit report granted by federal law.

If you don’t have options for a free credit report, you can purchase a credit report from each of the three credit bureaus. It’s best to view all three of your credit reports since not all credit businesses report to all three bureaus.

Enroll in credit monitoring. Credit monitoring services alert you to changes in your credit report, like new credit card accounts or changes in your credit card balances. These alerts can give you an earlier warning to credit card fraud than if you waited for collection calls.

Credit monitoring services range from $10 a month to $30 a month and vary in the services they provide, for example, the number of credit reports you can have monitored. Before you sign up for a credit monitoring service, remember that you can view your credit report for free by using AnnualCreditReport.com.

Related posts:

1. 10 Ways to Avoid Credit Card Fraud
2. How to Get a Free Credit Report
3. 5 Reasons to Check Your Credit Report