Even with all of the precautions and procedures in place, identity theft and credit card abuse may still occur. Whether you triggered the criminal activity through some sort of neglect, or the criminal was able to infiltrate another institution to gain access to your identity (ie, hacking into a dating website to obtain personal information), the activity has occurred and you must now deal with the aftermath. Once this happens, there are a few steps that you must take to mitigate or reverse the damage.

Before any action is taken to identify the leak or to mitigate the financial damages, immediately contact your credit bureau or financial institution to notify them of the suspicious activity. It is possible that the suspicious activity may be a mistake on behalf of the financial institution and no further action will be needed.

Alternatively, the financial institution may deem that the suspicious activity is, in fact, a security breach and the confidentiality of your personal and financial information has been compromised. In this instance, you will need to contact the local law enforcement agency to begin filing a report.