Effects of Credit Card Theft
How to defend yourself against the effects of Credit Card Theft
- Here are some important tips on how to protect yourself against Credit Card theft, for shoppers and merchants.
How long can identity theft problems go on?
It's difficult to predict how long the effects of identity theft may linger. That's because it depends on many factors including the type of theft, whether the thief sold or passed your information on to other thieves, whether the thief is caught, and problems related to correcting your credit report.
Victims of identity theft should monitor their credit reports and other financial records for several months after they discover the crime. Credit reports should be checked once every three months in the first year of the theft, and once a year thereafter. Keep alert for other signs of identity theft. See How can I tell if I'm a victim of identity theft?
Victims should not delay in correcting their records and contacting all companies that opened fraudulent accounts. The longer the inaccurate information goes uncorrected, the longer it will take to resolve the problem.