If you think you have become a victim of identity theft or fraud, act immediately to minimize the damage to your personal funds and financial accounts, as well as your reputation.

Here is a list of some actions that you should take right away:

Contact the Federal Trade Commission (FTC) to report the situation. Here are three ways to contact them:

1. Online
2. By telephone. You can call FTC toll-free at 1-877-ID THEFT (877-438-4338) or 3. TDD at 202-326-2502, or
3. By mail to Consumer Response Center, FTC, 600 Pennsylvania Avenue, N.W., Washington, DC 20580.

Under the Identity Theft and Assumption Deterrence Act , the Federal Trade Commission is responsible for receiving and processing complaints from people who believe they may be victims of identity theft, providing informational materials to those people, and referring those complaints to appropriate entities, including the major credit reporting agencies and law enforcement agencies. For further information, please check the FTC's identity theft web pages .

You can also call your local office of the FBI or the U.S. Secret Service to report crimes relating to identity theft and fraud.

You may also need to contact the following agencies for other types of identity theft:

1. Your local office of the Postal Inspection Service if you suspect that an identity thief has submitted a change-of-address form with the Post Office to redirect your mail, or has used the mail to commit frauds involving your identity.

2. The Social Security Administration if you suspect that your Social Security number is being fraudulently used. You can call them at 1-800-269-0271 to report the fraud.

3. The Internal Revenue Service if you suspect the improper use of identification information in connection with tax violations. You can call 1-800-829-0433 to report the violations.

4. Call the fraud units of the three principal credit reporting companies:

Equifax

• To report fraud, call (800) 525-6285 or write to P.O. Box 740250, Atlanta, GA 30374-0250.
• To order a copy of your credit report ($8 in most states), write to P.O. Box 740241, Atlanta, GA 30374-0241, or call (800) 685-1111.
• To dispute information in your report, call the phone number provided on your credit report.
• To opt out of pre-approved offers of credit, call (888) 567-8688 or write to Equifax Options, P.O. Box 740123, Atlanta GA 30374-0123.

Experian (formerly TRW)

• To report fraud, call (888) EXPERIAN or (888) 397-3742, fax to (800) 301-7196, or write to P.O. Box 1017, Allen, TX 75013.
• To order a copy of your credit report ($8 in most states): P.O. Box 2104, Allen TX 75013, or call (888) EXPERIAN.
• To dispute information in your report, call the phone number provided on your credit report.
• To opt out of pre-approved offers of credit and marketing lists, call (800) 353-0809 or (888) 5OPTOUT or write to P.O. Box 919, Allen, TX 75013.

Trans Union

• To report fraud, call (800) 680-7289 or write to P.O. Box 6790, Fullerton, CA 92634.
• To order a copy of your credit report ($8 in most states), write to P.O. Box 390, Springfield, PA 19064 or call: (800) 888-4213.
• To dispute information in your report, call the phone number provided on your credit report.
• To opt out of pre-approved offers of credit and marketing lists, call (800) 680-7293 or (888) 5OPTOUT or write to P.O Box 97328, Jackson, MS 39238.

Contact all creditors with whom your name or identifying data have been fraudulently used. For example, you may need to contact your long-distance telephone company if your long-distance calling card has been stolen or you find fraudulent charges on your bill.

Contact all financial institutions where you have accounts that an identity thief has taken over or that have been created in your name but without your knowledge. You may need to cancel those accounts, place stop-payment orders on any outstanding checks that may not have cleared, and change your Automated Teller Machine (ATM) card, account, and Personal Identification Number (PIN).

Contact the major check verification companies if you have had checks stolen or bank accounts set up by an identity thief. In particular, if you know that a particular merchant has received a check stolen from you, contact the verification company that the merchant uses:

CheckRite -- (800) 766-2748
ChexSystems -- (800) 428-9623 (closed checking accounts)
CrossCheck -- (800) 552-1900
Equifax -- (800) 437-5120
National Processing Co. (NPC) -- (800) 526-5380
SCAN -- (800) 262-7771
TeleCheck -- (800) 710-9898

Related Article: Ways to Avoid Identity Theft

Other La Dolce Living Helpful Links:

• Seniors Online Community & Discussion Forum
• Senior Care Facility Search
• Senior Facility Registration