What to do if someone opened accounts in your name
A collection letter arrived for a card you never applied for. A credit alert flagged a loan you did not take out. Or you tried to open your own account and were told one already exists. However you found out, the feeling is the same: someone used your name, your Social Security number, or your date of birth to open credit that is now sitting on your record. That is identity theft, and it is one of the most common cybercrimes there is.
The good news, if there is any this early, is that the recovery path is well worn and mostly free. You did not have to lose money to a scam for this to happen; details like these leak in data breaches all the time and get resold, so this is rarely about anything you did wrong. Here is where to start.
Lock down new credit first
Before you chase down the specific fraudulent account, stop the bleeding by making it hard to open anything else. The single most effective step is a credit freeze, placed separately with each of the three major bureaus: Equifax, Experian, and TransUnion. A freeze blocks lenders from pulling your credit, which means no one can open a new account in your name while it is on. It is free to place, free to lift, and it does not affect your credit score. Keep the PIN or login each bureau gives you, since you will need it to lift the freeze when you apply for something yourself.
If you would rather not freeze, a fraud alert is a lighter option that asks lenders to verify your identity before extending credit. You only have to place it with one bureau and it notifies the others, but a freeze is the stronger protection.
Read your actual credit reports
You cannot fix what you cannot see. Pull all three reports for free at AnnualCreditReport.com, the only federally authorized source, and go through them line by line. Note every account, inquiry, or address that is not yours. That list becomes the map for everything that follows, so write down the creditor name, account number, and the date each account was opened.
Report it at IdentityTheft.gov
File your report with the FTC at IdentityTheft.gov. This is more than a complaint form; once you describe what happened, it builds a personalized recovery plan and generates an official Identity Theft Report you can use as proof with banks and credit bureaus. That document carries real weight and makes the calls that come next go faster. If a crime has clearly occurred, you can also file a report with your local police and, for online elements, with the FBI's IC3.gov.
Contact each company where an account was opened
For every fraudulent account, call the company's fraud department directly, tell them the account was opened by identity theft, and ask them to close it and remove it from your name. Send your FTC Identity Theft Report if they ask for documentation. Then dispute the account with each credit bureau that is reporting it so it comes off your file. Keep a simple log of who you spoke to, when, and what they promised, since this can take a few rounds to fully clear.
Close the door the thief came through
Someone had enough of your information to pass as you, so it is worth thinking about where that came from and whether they still have a way in. If your phone or email may also be compromised, our guides on a SIM swap taking over your number and locking down accounts are a good next read. If any of this traces back to a scam or a device someone had access to, our post on preserving evidence in the first 24 hours covers what to capture before it disappears. Change the passwords on your email and financial logins, and turn on two-factor authentication wherever you can.
Watch for the follow-up
Once your information is out there, be cautious of anyone who calls or emails claiming to be from your bank, a credit bureau, or a "recovery service" offering to fix everything for a fee. That is a common second wave, and legitimate help with identity theft never starts with a stranger contacting you first and asking to be paid. We cover how to tell the difference in our piece on spotting a recovery scam, and if your first reports seem to go nowhere, what to do when a report gets no response walks through how to push again.
This is tedious more than it is frightening, and almost all of it is reversible with paperwork and patience. Freeze first, get the report from IdentityTheft.gov, and work the list one account at a time.
— Gus