Recovering from all of this seems to be as complicated as a ball of Christmas lights. Yes, it sounds pretty stressful, but you will cope with it. I assume that you are currently busy with classes, so let us forget all the boring legal stuff and help you restore order in your life.
First of all, you have to extinguish this fire. Visit IdentityTheft.gov and create your recovery plan. Believe me, the government website is of great help and guides you through all the steps. Do not think about fixing your credit cards until you secure your identity.
Secondly, you should add a fraud alert on your credit reports. Inform Equifax, Experian, and Transunion about the issue and the lender will have to check your identity prior to opening a new account in your name. It is just a temporary measure but it works quite quickly.
Thirdly, you might also consider completely freezing your credit. The credit freeze is the strongest way to protect yourself from any new accounts. It costs nothing to freeze your credit and unfreeze it when needed. Consider it as your financial life is put on hold.
Now take your phone and start calling the banks. Tell them about every single fraudulent charge in your statements. Also, ask them to close the compromised accounts and provide you with the new ones. Be prepared to spend some time talking with the elevator music on the background.
The next step would be changing all your passwords, especially those that are related to your banking and email. You can also try to use the password manager, for instance, LastPass or Bitwarden. Two-factor authentication is a must nowadays – it is a really easy way to protect your identity.
Furthermore, you also need to visit the student loan portal and check the accounts for any fraud. Students are often the target of scams due to their clean credit history. Make sure no one managed to change your financial disbursement information. The money belongs to you, not to the criminals.
Lastly, you need to file a police report to get an official documentation trail. Even if local police will not pursue the criminal for you, you will need a police report number as credit card companies will require this document to dispute charges.
Make a list of all the contacts and correspondence during the whole process. Note every single name, date and reference number from every call. Your detailed documentation will save you from nervousness during the disputes.
Check your credit reports every few weeks for any new fraud. You can do it for free on the AnnualCreditReport.com site without any payment. Pay special attention to the unfamiliar addresses and accounts that were never opened before. Identifying the errors earlier will prevent any issues later.
Identity theft recovery is a long process but you need to be patient. Nothing you did was wrong and millions of people go through this every year. Keep your documents safe and stay vigilant.