If someone in the US has used your name to open accounts or run up charges, the official place to report it is IdentityTheft.gov. The Federal Trade Commission built it as a single stop where victims report the theft and get a plan to recover. It does more than take a complaint. It produces paperwork you can use with banks and credit bureaus.

What counts as identity theft

USAGov, the federal government’s general information site, defines it as someone using your personal or financial details without your permission. That can mean a credit card number, a Social Security number, or a medical insurance account number.

Victims often find out late. USAGov lists the signs to watch for:

  • bills for things you never bought
  • debt collectors calling about accounts you never opened
  • loan applications turned down
  • post that stops arriving

Do this before you file

The FTC’s consumer advice team says the first move is a fraud alert on your credit report. With an alert in place, a thief finds it harder to take out new credit under your name. It also entitles you to a free copy of your report from each of the three credit bureaus. Read those reports and note every account or transaction you do not recognise, because the site will ask about them.

What the site gives you back

On IdentityTheft.gov you answer questions about what happened. From your answers the site builds two documents. One is an Identity Theft Report, which records that your identity was stolen. The other is a recovery plan with steps tailored to your case.

The plan may tell you to close accounts opened in your name, or to get fraudulent charges removed from your existing ones. It may also point you to the credit bureaus to correct your report, or suggest an extended fraud alert or a credit freeze. The FTC adds printable checklists and sample letters to help with each step.

If you would rather speak to someone, USAGov gives the FTC’s phone line for identity theft as 1-877-438-4338. Since November 2023 the FTC has also taken fraud and identity theft reports in several languages.

When it is a scam rather than a stolen identity

The two get confused. A con that tricked you into paying, or a business behaving badly, goes to a different FTC site, ReportFraud.ftc.gov. Tax fraud has its own route as well. If you think someone filed a return in your name and the IRS has not contacted you, USAGov points to IRS Form 14039, the Identity Theft Affidavit. Filing it invalidates the fraudulent return.

USAGov also tells you to call the fraud department at each bank or card issuer where you hold an account.