Report the identity theft. As soon as you discover the identity theft, you should file a police report. If you live in a California city, call your city police department and ask how to file the report. If you live in an unincorporated area, call your county sheriff's office and ask them how to file the report. If they tell you to make the report on the phone or by letter, ask when and where you can get the police report so you can make copies to send to debt collectors and credit agencies.

Placing a California security freeze. There are three consumer credit reporting companies. You should contact each one in writing, by certified mail, to place what is called a "California security freeze" on your credit report. Here are their phone numbers and websites:

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

TransUnion: 1-800-680-7289; www.transunion.com; Fraud Victim Assistance Division, P.O. Box 6790, Fullerton, CA 92834-6790

The security freeze is authorized by California Civil Code section 1785.10-1785.19.5. It forbids credit reporting companies from sharing your credit report with most persons and businesses without your authorization. It is stronger than a "fraud alert," which only tells businesses to contact you before opening a new account or changing information on your account. (Unfortunately the law permits creditors to ignore a fraud alert, so they could still open a new account for the identity thief and try to collect the debt from you.)

If you get a California security freeze, current creditors (for your debts, or for the identity-theft debts) and their collection agencies and attorneys can still access your credit report, as can government agencies and various other persons permitted by the law. You can "lift" the security freeze for a single creditor / employer/ insurer, or for a specific period of time, if you need to open a new account; there is a fee for each "lift." For more information, please see the PDF document "How to Freeze Your Credit Files" on the website of the California government's Office of Privacy Protection.

You can get each credit reporting company's identity theft form or procedure from them. When you fill out their forms, to get the benefit of the law, you must be sure to tell them that you want to place a "California security freeze" and not just a "fraud alert" on your account:

Equifax:   www.equifax.com (telephone call required to file fraud alert)

Experian:  www.experian.com (simple form online)

TransUnion:  www.transunion.com/Documents/FTC_ID_affidavit.pdf (long form online)

Remember, by law you must send your request for a California Security Freeze in writing, by certified mail.

Examine your credit report. Once you ask for a fraud alert, you are entitled to order a free copy of your credit report from each of the three agencies. On the credit reports, look for inquiries from companies you haven't contacted, accounts you didn't open, and debts that are not yours. Make sure all your personal information, like your name, address, phone number, Social Security number and employers, are correct.

Correct false or mistaken information. If you find false or incorrect information on any report, to correct or remove it you must write to the credit reporting company who sent you that report. List the information that is false and explain what the correct information is, identify the debts that are not yours, and include another copy of your California police report. Depending on the credit reporting agency, they may require a photocopy of your driver's license, an affidavit, and/or other information proving that you are who you say you are.

Telephone creditors and debt collectors. You will need to call and then write each creditor or debt collector who has contacted you about a fraudulent debt, or who is listed beside a fraudulent debt or account on one of your credit reports. Tell them you are an identity theft victim and will be writing them for copies of the documents related to a fraudulent debt shown on your account. Ask whether they have their own fraud affidavit you should fill out, or whether you can send them the government's standardized affidavit of identity theft, available at http://www.consumer.gov/idtheft/pdf/affidavit.pdf

Stopping debt collectors after ID theft: your first letter. Send each of these creditors and debt collectors a separate letter. The letter will say:

(1) You are a victim of identity theft,
(2) The debt shown on your account (or the account itself) is not yours,
(3) You are asking them to remove the debt from their records
(4) You request that they send you copies of all paperwork related to the false debt and/or account.

You will need to attach a copy of your police report and a copy of your affidavit of identity theft. We have prepared a sample letter you can fill out and use to challenge a fraudulent debt and get the related paperwork for it:

You can open or download it from either of these links:

• MS Word formatted Identity Theft Debt Notification Letter (you can replace the blanks with your own info)
• Adobe Acrobat PDF formatted Identity Theft Debt Notification Letter (handwrite or type info into blanks)

Photocopy and mail the letter. Then make a copy of the letter for your own files, sign and date the letter, and send it certified mail with a copy of your police report and your identity theft affidavit. Send a separate letter to the creditor and any debt collector for each fraudulent debt.

Your follow-up letter. Debt collectors and creditors must give you a copy of the paperwork they are relying on within 30 days after your letter asking for it. Once you get their paperwork, you should write the debt collectors and creditors again, asking them to confirm in writing that they have removed the debt from your account and notified the credit reporting agency.

In this second letter, you should ask the creditor or debt collector to confirm in writing that you do not owe the debt and that the account has been closed. You should also list anything you found in the paperwork that was incorrect that might help prove that the debt was not yours: for example, that the signature, telephone number, or address are not yours. We have prepared a sample follow-up letter you can fill out and use when the paperwork shows the debt is fraudulent:

You can open or download it from either of these links:

• MS Word formatted Identity Theft Debt Follow-Up Letter (you can replace the blanks with your own info)
• Adobe Acrobat PDF formatted Identity Theft Debt Follow-Up Letter (handwrite or type info into blanks)

Even if there is nothing in the paperwork showing the debt is fraudulent, you should send a simple letter asking the creditor or debt collector to confirm in writing that you do not owe the debt and that the account has been closed.

Photocopy and mail the letter. Then make a copy of the letter for your own files, sign and date the letter, and send it certified mail with a copy of your police report and your identity theft affidavit. Send a separate letter to the creditor and any debt collector for each fraudulent debt.

Continuing problems with collections. If the creditor or debt collector continues to try to collect the debt from you, or does not remove it from your credit report, 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 help you.

For more information about handling collection and credit reporting problems resulting from identity theft, please see:

To contact us now, please see the information below. We can help you.

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.