Advice offered by Marc Hebert, president of The Harbor Group Inc., a certified financial planner. If you have any questions about finance or if you'd like to suggest a future topic, email webstaff@wmur.com. Identity theft is a complex threat, and one that costs U.S. citizens billions of dollars and lots of time annually. If your identity is stolen, here are some actions to consider that may help you mitigate the damage. Report the identity theft to the fraud department of one of the three credit reporting agencies as soon as you can. The agency will notify the other two of the theft. The agencies are Equifax, Experian and TransUnion. Request your credit report. Only the last four digits of your Social Security number should be on it. If you discover fraudulently opened or compromised accounts on the report, these should be closed and the credit reporting agency notified in writing. Anyone to whom you have provided your credit report in the last few months should be told about the identity theft. Make certain an extended fraud alert has been placed on your credit report. Continue to get your credit report periodically. A security freeze may also be used. This prevents others from accessing your files unless you give permission. Thieves can’t generate new debt under your name if you freeze your files. Get new credit cards and destroy the old ones. The crime can also be reported to the Federal Trade Commission. The FTC will establish an Identity Theft Victim’s Complaint and Affidavit. Your local police or sheriff’s department should be told and provided as much detail about the crime as possible. Make them aware of the accounts that are involved and keep a copy of the police report you filed. The federal and state tax authorities will need to know if the theft involves your taxes. You can file IRS Form 14039, Identity Theft Affidavit, to can be filed to alert the IRS or call the IRS Identity Protection Specialized Unit. Call your state tax agency as well. If you used a tax preparer make sure he or she knows about the situation. If the crime involves the U.S. mail service, contact your local postal inspector. For Social Security number misuse that is not related to IRS issues, contact the Social Security Administration Inspector General to report Social Security benefits fraud employment fraud, or welfare fraud. Check your earnings record with the SSA. This will help insure no one is using your identification number to work. If something doesn’t look right call the local Social Security Administration office. If you feel your health insurance card was used by someone else, contact your insurance company. The same holds true for Medicare. Call Medicare if you feel someone else accessed your benefits. It might be prudent to contact local utilities to let them know someone has stolen your identity and that no new accounts should be opened in your name. Others to notify are your investment adviser and retirement account provider. Notifying these people will alert them to look for false activity. If after doing this you still receive harassing calls from debt collectors, tell them you are a victim of fraud. Get the collector’s contact information and the information of the company that placed the debt for collection. Get details on the debt involved. See if you need to file a specific fraud form with the collection agency. Follow this up in writing. Change your account user names and passwords. Throughout the process, keep accurate records and copies of everything. Mail information certified, return receipt. As a final precaution, consider having a criminal background check done on yourself to see if others are using your name to further conduct their criminal activity.