Being a victim of identity theft can create issues that last several years. Identity theft is not always done by strangers but rather by family members. Having a family member use your identity to obtain credit can result in collection accounts and high balances which may, in turn, result in a bad credit history and score. While there are laws to protect consumers from identity theft, many people are reluctant to turn a family member in, which results in dealing with the bad credit and working on repairing it yourself.
1 Contact your local police department to file an identity theft report if you are comfortable doing so. If you are not certain your mother opened the accounts, you do not even have to mention her as a possibility and report that someone used your name to obtain credit.
2 Call the three credit bureaus to place a fraud alert on your credit file (see the Resources section of this article). A fraud alert will block any lender from seeing your credit report without you providing a specific code to the credit bureaus to release the credit report. This will prevent anyone from applying for credit. Provide a copy of the police report to the credit bureau if you filed one. With a police report, the credit bureaus can remove the negative accounts.
3 Visit ftc.gov and fill out the identity theft form (see the Resources section). Use this form to send to creditors in an attempt to remove the accounts from your credit history.
4 Dispute all of the accounts with the credit bureaus if you do not file a police report. You have the legal right to dispute any incorrect account. Write a letter stating you have been the victim of identity theft, and list each account. Ask that each account be removed from your credit file. If you were a minor when the account was opened, provide proof of your age, and explain you could not have obtained the credit as you were underage. Allow the agencies 30 days to complete an investigation.
5 Contact each creditor, and explain you were a victim of identity theft. You do not have to tell them it was your mother. Send each creditor a copy of the police report--if filed--and ask that the account be removed. If you did not file a police report, send the fraud form from Step 2, and ask the creditor to remove the account from your name. If you were underage when the account was opened, let the agent know this, and provide her with a copy of your birth certificate.
6 Accept that you may be responsible for some of the accounts not removed. Focus on accounts that are open and not in collections. Accounts in collection will not improve your score if paid. Consider keeping any credit card accounts open. Closing credit cards can actually lower your credit score. If you are paying on the card, you can request a new account number and place an alert on the account to prevent your mother from accessing the account.
7 Lower the balances on any open credit cards as low as possible to increase your credit score. If possible, get your mother to send you money to repay the funds. Do not allow her access to the accounts or trust her to make the payments. You need to take charge of your credit.
8 Let time pass. When the late payments, collection accounts and inquiries get older than 12 months, your credit score will recover some. After 24 months, the damage will be far less and new accounts you have will begin to really improve your credit score.
