Services Guides About
DIY Crime Fixer Guide

What To Do If A Scammer Has Your Name, Address, Phone, Or ID

A calm triage plan for personal information exposure, identity theft risk, scam threats, and account protection.

All Guides
Short version: Not every exposure creates the same risk. Triage what they have, then protect the accounts and records that matter most.

Why This Matters

A common scam fear is "they have my information." Sometimes that means a public address and phone number. Sometimes it means a Social Security number, ID photo, bank login, or account recovery code. Those are very different situations.

The right response depends on what was exposed and what the scammer can do with it.

Step By Step

  • Write down exactly what information the scammer has: name, phone, address, email, ID, SSN, bank card, password, or account code.
  • If passwords or codes were shared, change those accounts immediately from a safe device.
  • If financial information was shared, contact the bank, card issuer, or payment app.
  • If SSN or identity documents were shared, consider credit freezes and identity-theft reporting.
  • Save scam messages, payment requests, profile links, emails, phone numbers, and transaction IDs.
  • Report to the platform, FTC, IC3, and local police when appropriate.
  • Watch for follow-up scams pretending to be recovery services, police, banks, or government agencies.

Checklist

  • Information exposed list
  • Passwords changed
  • MFA enabled
  • Bank/card contacted
  • Credit freezes considered
  • FTC IdentityTheft.gov report
  • IC3 report if online fraud
  • Evidence folder saved

Common Mistakes

  • Do not pay a "recovery hacker."
  • Do not send more ID to prove your identity to the scammer.
  • Do not ignore SIM-swap risk if they have your phone number and account details.
  • Do not panic just because your address is public; focus on what they can actually use.

When To Stop DIY

  • Call your bank or card issuer immediately if money moved or account access was shared.
  • Call 911 if the scammer is threatening physical harm or says someone is coming to your location.

Simple Template

  • Information exposed: Name, phone, address, ID, SSN, bank, password, code.
  • How exposed: Form, message, phone call, fake site, hacked account.
  • Money lost: Amount, payment method, transaction ID.
  • Actions taken: Passwords, bank, credit freeze, reports.
  • Evidence saved: Messages, URLs, phone numbers, emails, receipts.

Sources Used