Someone stole your identity? A calm first-day checklist

Tell a chat AI what happened (no numbers); get IdentityTheft.gov's steps as a checklist and a who-I-called log.

What it does

No bot required. Finding a card you never opened or charges you didn't make is scary. The FTC's IdentityTheft.gov lays out what to do right away: call the fraud department where you know fraud happened and ask them to close or freeze the accounts and change your logins, passwords and PINs; place a free one-year fraud alert with one of the three credit bureaus (that bureau must tell the other two) and get your free credit reports at AnnualCreditReport.com; then report it to the FTC at IdentityTheft.gov, which builds your Identity Theft Report and recovery plan. Next steps include closing new accounts opened in your name, asking businesses for letters confirming the fraud, asking the credit bureaus to block fraudulent information, and considering an extended fraud alert or a credit freeze. Describe what happened in plain words (never paste your Social Security number or account numbers) and any chat AI turns it into a checklist and a contact log. You make the calls and file the report yourself.

Copy-paste prompt

No bot needed: paste this into Grok, ChatGPT, or Claude.

Someone may have stolen my identity. Help me make a calm checklist using the FTC's IdentityTheft.gov recovery steps.

What happened, in plain words: [e.g. a credit card I never opened showed up on my credit report / strange charges on my debit card / a letter about a loan I didn't apply for].
Do NOT ask for my Social Security number, account numbers, card numbers, passwords or PINs. Use company names and account types only.

1. "Right away" checklist from IdentityTheft.gov:
- Call the fraud department of each company where I know fraud happened. Ask them to close or freeze the accounts, and change my logins, passwords and PINs.
- Place a free one-year fraud alert by contacting ONE of the three credit bureaus (Equifax, Experian, TransUnion); that bureau must tell the other two. Use the contact info listed on IdentityTheft.gov.
- Get my free credit reports at AnnualCreditReport.com and note any account or transaction I don't recognize.
- Report it to the FTC at IdentityTheft.gov (or 1-877-438-4338). If I don't make an account there, print and save my Identity Theft Report and recovery plan right away.
- Optional: file a police report. List what IdentityTheft.gov says to bring.
2. "Next" checklist: close new accounts opened in my name and ask each business for a letter confirming the account isn't mine; get bogus charges removed; write to the credit bureaus to block fraudulent info; consider an extended fraud alert (lasts 7 years) or a credit freeze (lasts until I lift it). Both are free.
3. If it involves taxes, medical care, or a child's information, tell me to look at IdentityTheft.gov's special forms of identity theft section.
4. Make me a contact log table with columns: date, company, who I talked to, what they said, follow-up date. Leave it blank for me to fill in.

Keep it short and calm. Don't contact anyone for me, and remind me to type sensitive details only into official sites, never into this chat.