Price captures verified 2026-08-09; overall scores unpublished
What to Do If Your Identity Is Stolen
If you have confirmed identity theft (new accounts you did not open, tax or benefits misuse, or clear fraudulent charges tied to your identity), prioritize free containment: credit freezes where available, unique passwords plus MFA on email and banking, and official reporting channels in your country. Paid monitoring is a later optional layer for residual alerts, not step one. This guide invents no victim counts or recovery dollar guarantees. Optional product cards use claim-ledger prices from 2026-08-09 (Aura Individual $12/mo billed annually; LifeLock Core $124.99/yr first year, comparison-only). Overall scores stay unpublished. Who should not buy: anyone who skipped freezes and account lockdown, or anyone who needs a published overall score before deciding.
- Guide · Incident · ~15 min read
Urgent framing
Treat confirmed fraud as an account and credit emergency first. Paid monitoring does not freeze credit files, close fraudulent accounts, or file official reports for you.
Do these immediately
- 1Confirm the fraud with statements, bureau alerts, or tax/benefits notices (not a phishing clone)
- 2Freeze credit at major bureaus where available; set fraud alerts if offered
- 3Lock email and banking with unique passwords and MFA; revoke unknown sessions
- 4Close or dispute fraudulent accounts through the issuer, not through random callers
- 5File official identity-theft reports only via trusted government channels when needed
- 6Only later evaluate monitoring products if residual alert needs remain
Response plan
- 1Free
Confirm and document the theft
Write down what happened: dates, account names, amounts, and which notices you received. Prefer primary statements and bureau letters over social media panic posts.
- Save PDFs or screenshots of fraudulent activity
- Note which identifiers may be involved (account numbers, not full SSN in our tools)
- Ignore callers who demand gift cards, remote access, or one-time codes
- 2Free
Freeze credit and alert lenders
A freeze at major consumer reporting agencies (where available) blocks most new credit in your name. Fraud alerts can add friction for lenders. These steps are free in many jurisdictions; confirm with the bureau you use.
- Place freezes at each major bureau that applies to you
- Enable fraud alerts when offered
- Turn on bank and card transaction notifications
- 3Free
Lock down email and money accounts
Attackers often pivot through email recovery. Change email and banking passwords to unique values, enable MFA, and revoke unknown devices or sessions.
- Unique password on email first
- MFA on email, banking, and tax portals you use
- Review recent login and recovery-contact changes
- 4Free
Close fraud and file official reports
Contact issuers to close or dispute fraudulent accounts. When appropriate, file through trusted government identity-theft channels for your country (for example IdentityTheft.gov guidance for many US consumers). Police reports may help for specific disputes; follow local process.
- Call issuers using numbers on the back of cards or official sites
- Use government identity-theft reporting sites, not random SEO ads
- Keep a case log of reference numbers
- 5Free
Reduce public enrichment that feeds more fraud
People-search listings can help impersonators. File free opt-outs on high-visibility hits. Paid removal automation is optional if volume stays high after DIY.
- Search your name and city on a few people-search sites
- Submit free opt-outs for the worst hits
- Re-check in a few weeks
- 6Optional paid
Optional paid monitoring after containment
After freezes and account lockdown, some households want ongoing alert coverage. Aura is the pack qualitative monitoring option (Individual from $12/mo billed annually, 2026-08-09). LifeLock Core at $124.99/yr first year is comparison-only diligence (no /go/ deal). Who should not buy yet: anyone still missing freezes, anyone who will not read alerts, or anyone who requires a published overall score first.
- Containment complete before shopping
- Prefer /go/aura only deliberately after disclosure
- Treat LifeLock as comparison-only research
- Re-check vendor pricing at checkout
What this response plan cannot fix
- Undo of accounts already opened in your name without issuer cooperation
- Guaranteed prevention of all follow-on fraud
- Replacement for free credit freezes and MFA
- Requests for your passwords, one-time codes, or full SSN from Security Checklist
- Published restoration dollar amounts as Security Checklist-tested payouts
- Legal advice or jurisdiction-specific filing guarantees
Sources
- Official identity-theft reporting guidance, Use primary government channels for your country (for example IdentityTheft.gov for many US consumers); processes vary by jurisdiction
- Credit freeze / fraud alert public guidance, Bureau and regulator pages; confirm current steps locally
- Aura claim ledger, data/claim-ledgers/aura.json#aura-starting-price; Individual $12/mo billed annually captured 2026-08-09
- LifeLock claim ledger, data/claim-ledgers/lifelock.json#lifelock-starting-price; Core Individual $124.99/yr first year captured 2026-08-09; comparison-only
- Vendor marketing pages, aura.com / incogni.com / joindeleteme.com / lifelock.norton.com feature and pricing claims, not independent evidence; re-verify same-day
- Security Checklist methodology, How commercial pages are structured before scores publish, /methodology/
- Claim ledger (T014), data/claim-ledgers/aura.json, incogni.json, deleteme.json, lifelock.json, surfshark.json: starting prices verified 2026-08-09; overall scores unpublished
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