If you are a victim of identity theft, take the following four steps as soon as possible and keep a record detail of your conversation and copies of all correspondence.

1. Place a fraud alert on your credit reports, and review your credit reports.

2. Close the accounts that you know or believe have been tampered with or opened fraudulently.

3. File a report with your local police or with the police in the community where the identity theft took place.

4. File a complaint with the Federal Trade Commission.

If you place a fraud report on your credit the one company you call is required to call the other two reporting agency. The three reporting agency are:

Equifax: 1-800-525-6285: www.equifax.com

Experian: 1-800-397-3742: www.experian.com

Transunion: 1-800-690-7289: www.transunion.com