How to Stop Someone Who Stole Your Email Address & ID

Your personal information is not necessarily safe online.

Identity theft is harmful and can take years to recover from. If someone has stolen your email address, he can do damage, but you can stop him quickly. If someone steals your ID -- either your login ID for sites or email or your actual ID card, it can be more difficult to address the problem. But you can still protect your identity and information.

Instructions

Email

1. Change your email password as soon as you notice your email has been stolen. If you can no longer log into your email account, contact the email server, whether it is your ISP or a server like Hotmail or Gmail. Fill out a complaint form or call a representative on the phone. The service can lock the identity thief out of your account and issue you a new password so you can get back in.

2. File a complaint with your email company, whether you've already spoken to them to get into your account or whether you were able to log in on your own to change your password.

3. Go through your sent messages and see who the identity thief tried to contact. Contact those people on your own and explain the situation. Tell them that if they did anything based on what the identity thief told them -- such as wiring money or making any transfers -- they should cancel those actions and speak to the police.

4. Change your email password every few weeks to keep the same thing from happening again.

ID

1. Contact the website or company that issued the ID that was stolen. Explain the theft. The website or company should cancel your account or issue you a new username and cancel your old information.

2. Change your password as soon as you have access to the site again.

3. Contact police if your ID has been stolen from your purse or wallet. They will issue alerts for anyone attempting to use the ID in a transaction. Cancel your credit cards and speak to your bank and to any company where you use your ID to tell them what happened.

References

• Ciphersend: email Security
• Money Central: Identity
• LifeLock: Identity