The Texas law firm Peterson & Swearingen posted a helpful article about what you should do if you discover that you have been a victim of identity theft on its BrazosLawyers.com blog. Identity theft is a growing problem and I have represented bankruptcy clients who ended up filing partially because of fraudulent debt (usually there were other, legitimate debts as well, but the fraudulent debt made the situation unworkable).
I think that a real key to avoiding damage caused by identity theft is your speed in recognizing that there is a problem and your speed in closing your bank account and canceling your credit cards.
More recently, I have heard of a scam in which a crook claiming to be a representative from the Social Security Administration calls to “verify” your personal information and asks to record your confirmation.
Be assured that no one from the Social Security Administration will ever call you to request personal information. Almost all of your dealings with Social Security or the IRS or any federal agency will be through the mail so if you should get a phone call, your suspicions should be raised. Further, if you get a letter from a federal agency, do not assume that the phone number or email address on the letter is legitimate. Look up the agency in the phone book or on-line. Just because a phone number or email address is printed someplace does not make it legitimate.
Unfortunately, there is no comprehensive federal law that offers any protection to consumers in the form of a credit freeze. Some States have enacted credit freeze laws, although Georgia has not. A credit freeze puts a hold on any third party access to your credit file, meaning that identity thieves cannot use stolen information to apply for new credit.