Identity Theft: The First 48 Hours
Discovering that someone is using your identity is a moment of pure panic, and panic produces bad ordering. The recovery steps have a correct sequence, and it's published.
Order matters more than speed
The FTC's published sequence starts where the money is actively moving: call the companies where you already know fraud happened and have those accounts closed or frozen. Nothing else stops the current charges.
Only then do the bureau steps — one fraud alert, which the bureau you call must pass to the other two, and your free credit reports, which show you the full extent of what was opened in your name.
Reporting at IdentityTheft.gov comes after that, and it is not a formality: it produces an FTC Identity Theft Report plus a personalised recovery plan, and that report is what unlocks your strongest rights with businesses and bureaus — the ability to have fraudulent accounts blocked and information removed. It describes what you found, which is why you want the credit reports in hand first.
Close the known fraud. Fraud alert plus credit reports. Then file at IdentityTheft.gov — free, official, and its output is what the later steps require.
You are building a case file
Everything in identity theft recovery runs on documentation. Dates, times, who you spoke to, reference numbers, and copies of everything you send.
Send disputes in writing where you can, and keep the record. The Identity Theft Report, a police report where relevant, and your own log are the three things that turn 'someone says they were defrauded' into a claim that companies must act on.
Recovery is often slow and repetitive. The case file is what stops you having to start over each time you reach a new person.
Close the accounts where fraud already happened, then fraud alert and credit reports, then report at IdentityTheft.gov — it generates an FTC Identity Theft Report and a personalised recovery plan that the remaining steps depend on.
Sources
- IdentityTheft.gov — Report identity theft and get a recovery plan — Federal Trade Commission (2026)
- Credit Freezes and Fraud Alerts — Federal Trade Commission (2026)
- What do I do if I've been a victim of identity theft? — Consumer Financial Protection Bureau (2026)