This checklist is designed to help California residents stop debt collector harassment and credit reporting abuse that can result from identity theft. It does not cover the steps for recovering from other aspects of identity theft. To locate more information about recovering from identity theft, please see our Identity Theft Help Directory.

1	File a police report. You can call your California city police department or county sheriff's department to find out how to do this and how to get a copy of your report
2	Get a copy of your police report. Make more copies for mailing (at least 20). Put your own copy in a safe place.
3	Place a California security freeze on your credit reports with the "Big Three" credit reporting companies: Equifax, Experian, and Transunion. For their contact information, please see "Important Steps to Take" on this website.
4	Request a copy of each of your credit reports from Equifax, Experian, and Transunion. For their contact information, please see "Important Steps to Take."
5	Review the three credit reports when you get them. Put a mark by each item that is incorrect, such as your: name, address, phone number, social security number, debts, accounts, and/or any other wrong information.
6	Send a letter to each of the Big Three credit reporting companies. List each item you marked as incorrect on your credit report. Tell them what is wrong with each item, and ask each agency to make the corrections you want.
7	Telephone creditors and debt collectors listed next to a fraudulent debt on your credit report or who have contacted you. Tell them you are an identity theft victim, that you will be writing them for copies for the paperwork related to that debt, and ask if they have their own fraud affidavit or if you can use the standard affidavit (from http://www.consumer.gov/idtheft/pdf/affidavit.pdf )
8	Send each creditor and debt collector a separate letter telling them you are an id theft victim, and asking for the paperwork for each debt. For details, please see Sample Identity Theft Debt Letter
9	After you get the paperwork, send the creditor or debt collector for that debt a follow-up letter asking them to confirm that they have removed the debt from your credit records. For details, please see Sample Identity Theft Debt Letter
10	Order your credit reports again. If the fraudulent debts are still listed even after you sent the two letters to the creditor or debt collector for that debt, or if the creditor or debt collector tries to collect the debt again, if you are a California resident you can call The Law Firm of Shewry & Van Dyke, LLP for a free, courteous, and understanding consultation at (888) 910-3328 [toll-free].

We can be reached by telephone Monday through Friday, 9 a.m. to 5 p.m. We are glad to provide you with a telephone consultation at no charge. But please remember that for us to become your attorneys, we must first have a written attorney-client agreement signed by both of us. We look forward to helping you.