Q. My mother’s identity has been stolen – she had done all of the standard procedures to safeguard her accounts, but her cards and bank accounts were compromised. She has shut everything down and reported it to the credit agencies.
Worse, she discovered that the thief has her Social Security number and has routed replacement cards to other addresses, and breached other accounts that hadn’t been compromised yesterday.
Do you know of anyone or a company who can help her clean this up?
Just one note – my mother is in her ‘80s, but she’s not “old” or doddering. She’s totally with it and somewhat tech savvy.
If it can happen to her, it can happen to anyone.
– Andrea, New York
A. “The quicker she acts, the less damage that can be done,” says personal finance expert Kathy Kristof, who edits the SideHusl website. “Waiting even a few days presents significant risks.”
Kristof’s advice? Freeze mom’s credit, which should trigger credit reports from all three major credit bureaus: Equifax, Experian and TransUnion. This will allow mom to see what fraudulent accounts have been opened and where the cards are going.
The second step is law enforcement. “You often need a police report to cancel cards and clear your name,” Kristof says.
And contact Social Security to make sure that no one tries to claim benefits on her account.
Be sure to notify existing lenders that mom’s identity has been breached, so that they can issue new accounts and cancel the old ones.
In addition, mom should check with her homeowner’s insurance provider. Many of them insure against ID theft loss, and they may provide some support, as well as guidance, on what to do next.
Finally, set a red flag alert at mom’s mortgage company, bank and everywhere else immediately.
“A red flag alert creates additional hurdles for thieves to work through and can slow big-ticket problems down while she retains someone for the case,” according to Pam Dixon, executive director of the World Privacy Forum, a research and advocacy group
For more tips, several experts I contacted (thank you for the fast responses!), recommend checking out AnnualCreditReport.com and the ID Theft Resource Center.
