A Financial Story

Melissa, Class of 2005

When I was entering my first year of college, I was clueless about financial aid and how to pay for school. I brought myself over to the financial aid office and applied to take out a loan the quickest way possible for the first semester. I didn't read the fine print on the applications, so I didn’t realize that for each separate loan I took out from this particular company I would be repaying at least $50 a month per loan when I got out of school.

Protect Yourself from Identity Theft

If you think your identity has been stolen, here's what to do:

Contact the fraud departments of any one of the three credit reporting agencies:
- Equifax: 1-800-525-6285; P.O. Box 740241, Atlanta, GA 30374-0241
- Experian: 1-888-EXPERIAN (397-3742); P.O. Box 9532, Allen, TX 75013
- TransUnion: 1-800-680-7289; Fraud Victim Assistance Division, P.O. Box 6790, Fullerton, CA 92834-6790
Close the accounts that you know or believe have been tampered with or opened fraudulently.
File a report with your local police or the police in the community where the identity theft took place. Get a copy of the report or at the very least, the number of the report, to submit to your creditors and others that may require proof of the crime.
File a complaint with the Federal Trade Commission. The FTC maintains a database of identity theft cases used by law enforcement agencies for investigations. Filing a complaint also helps us learn more about identity theft and the problems victims are having so that we can better assist you.

Source: http://www.consumer.gov/idtheft/