Another Question re: Credit Monitoring/Protection

For future reference, some say it's instead better to keep the account open but freeze it to new activity. Credit scores evidently benefit better this way vs a closed account.

Possibly. Some will say you can never be too safe. Right now all you have is someone that is using that one credit card number. That doesn't make for identity theft.

If you see credit applied for in your name on your credit report that you didn't apply for, then that's when you put the fraud alert out there.

Not a bad thing to have on the account full time actually.

I have a fraud victim alert on my accounts with th ebig three. If you have a phone numbre that remains pretty constant, it's not too bad, but if it changes, don't forget to update that number with the credit companies otherwise they won't be able to verify when you go to open credit legitimately.

"BRH" wrote

I think you should definitely consult your credit card company, and then all three credit bureaus, and see what they advise.

I had an ID theft problem a few years ago. It was due to a certain phone company being slovenly with records. Someone charged their phone bill in my name, and then failed to pay. My credit record had a black mark for a few years, whence I discovered, on a lark, that the collectors were after me! Fortunately, a class action suit had previously, successfully been brought against this company. So when I growled "Jump" at this phone company, its people pretty much said "How high?" The credit bureaus were a bit lacking in polish and but nonetheless generally courteous. I followed their directions, and they got my record cleaned up in the amount of time they said they would.

Like others suggested, these days I check my credit card billing online every few days. I also keep my credit limit low, so if some bum manages to steal my identity, etc., then they won't get far.

Did you file a police report? I was told to do so and did.