Enrichment · Life Skills

Someone used your name.
Here is the order to fix it.

Report it, alert the bureaus, freeze your credit, then work through each company with a date and a reference number for every call. The checklist keeps track of what is done, what is waiting and when your fraud alert runs out.

Start a recovery caseWhat you get

Recovery cases

The worked example is two made-up cases: a store card opened in someone’s name last month, and a tax return filed before theirs. Cases save on this device only; never type a full account or Social Security number.

Loading the case form. If nothing appears, turn on JavaScript.

What you get

Enrichment · Life SkillsFree

What you finish with
A case per incident with what was misused, the date found, the FTC report number and fraud alert date; five first steps, freezes at three bureaus, four security steps; every company or agency contacted with the date, status and reference; flags for the fraud alert’s end date, tax, medical and benefits misuse and disputes waiting more than 30 days.
Who it is for
Adults, young adults with their first accounts, and families helping a relative recover from identity theft.
Format
Browser checklist with a saved case per incident. Prints a case, all cases or a blank form; downloads a spreadsheet (.csv); exports and imports a file.
Access
Free. No account, no sign-in and nothing to install. Everything you type stays in this browser; nothing is sent to Caveat.
Where it lives
The Life Skills space in Caveat Enrichment.
Support
Questions about access, an order or a correction: team@caveatacademic.com.

How to use it

  1. Start a case the day you notice something wrong and report it at IdentityTheft.gov.
  2. Place a fraud alert with one bureau, then a freeze with each of the three.
  3. Call each company’s fraud department and log the date and reference number.
  4. Follow up in writing on any dispute with no answer after 30 days.
  5. Print the case when a company or agency asks what you have already done.

Start a recovery case

Alerts and freezes

Alert or freeze: you can have bothFraud alertFree. Companies must take steps toverify it is you before openingcredit.Lasts 1 year; 7 with an FTC reportCredit freezeFree. Blocks new credit pulls untilyou lift it with a PIN or login.Lasts until you lift itAlert or freeze: you can have bothFraud alertFree. Companies must take steps to verifyit is you before opening credit.Lasts 1 year; 7 with an FTC reportCredit freezeFree. Blocks new credit pulls until youlift it with a PIN or login.Lasts until you lift it
An alert asks lenders to check; a freeze stops them pulling your report at all. Most people recovering from identity theft use both.

Your rights

Federal law gives you a free fraud alert, free credit freezes at each bureau and free credit reports. With an Identity Theft Report (your FTC report), you can ask the bureaus to block information that came from the theft, and businesses must give you records of accounts opened in your name.

Children and teens

A parent or guardian can freeze a child’s credit at each bureau, even when the child has no credit file yet. A teen who finds an account they never opened should start a case like any adult, with a parent’s help.

Sources

  1. Federal Trade Commission. IdentityTheft.gov: reporting and personal recovery plans.
  2. Federal Trade Commission. Credit Freezes and Fraud Alerts (consumer.ftc.gov).
  3. Fair Credit Reporting Act, 15 U.S.C. 1681c-1 (fraud alerts and security freezes) and 1681c-2 (blocking information that resulted from identity theft).
  4. Internal Revenue Service. Identity Theft Central and Form 14039, Identity Theft Affidavit (irs.gov).

The worked example is made up. This checklist follows general federal steps; it is not legal advice, and a company’s or agency’s own instructions come first. Nothing you type is sent to Caveat. Support: team@caveatacademic.com.