Dealing With A Stolen Identity And Criminal Cases

17 July 2016
 Categories: Law, Blog

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Having your identity stolen typically equates to fraud of the financial kind. Some people steal identities and social security numbers in order to receive credit products or money that they would otherwise not be qualified for. However, there are some identity thieves who assume the actual identity of the person. If someone has stolen your identity and they have proceeded to commit crimes, you may be accused of these crimes. This may affect your criminal record, which can affect the rest of your life. If you are facing someone stealing your identity and committing crimes, here are some steps to take to prove this and clear your name. 

Start your financial life over

If your identity has been stolen, the first thing that you need to do is make a police report. The police report, however, does not mean that financial companies and credit reporting agencies will have to correct the information without proof that the specific charge is theft. To protect yourself, you can freeze your credit report so that it cannot be pulled to give to anyone. Get a new drivers licenses with a new number, and reopen bank accounts so that your numbers are new. Report all credit cards lost or stolen to receive completely new numbers. 

Hire a criminal defense lawyer for charges

If someone has stolen your identity and is going by your name, the police may be at your door or you may find a warrant for your arrest that you knew nothing about. If this happens, the person that you need to hire is a criminal law attorney. They will be able to help prove that the charges were committed by someone else by taking over the discovery process of the court case. Once the charges are dismissed, you may be able to file a civil case against the person who stole your identity or turn over the information to the police to pursue criminal charges.

Keep in contact with the police

Have the police investigate the person that stole your identity. The police can investigate and help to determine where the person came across your identity and their steps after taking your identity. This can lead you to information that helps you to clear up issues that you didn't know the person created. Staying in touch with the officer who worked on your case can help you start over and cut any issues that may come up.