The FTC says you should do 3 things right away if you think your identity has been stolen

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• Capital One's data breach in late March compromised data from over 100 million credit card applications Information including linked bank account numbers and Social Security numbers were leaked, leaving many vulnerable to identity theft.
• If you think you've been affected by identity theft, the Federal Trade Commission recommends that you call companies where fraud occurred, contact a credit bureau, and then report it to them.
• Doing these things will allow you to start repairing your account. You can put a credit freeze on your account, close fraudulent accounts, or clear fraudulent charges once you've completed these steps.
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Identity theft can happen because of something as complicated as a data breach, or as simple as losing your wallet. But, that doesn't mean that it's not stressful to deal with.

The Insurance Information Institute says that in 2017 the total amount stolen hit $16.8 billion, and that 30% of Americans had been exposed to a data breach. Most recently, Capital One's data breach in late March compromised data from over 100 million credit card applications submitted between 2005 and early 2019. Information including linked bank account numbers, social security numbers, and even dates of birth were leaked, leaving many vulnerable to identity theft.

Most commonly, identity theft involves the use and compromise of accounts you already have, as Business Insider's Lauren Lyons Cole previously reported. It might manifest as withdrawals or charges you didn't make, debt collectors calling you for debts you don't owe, or even accounts you didn't open appearing on your credit report.

If you think that identity theft has happened to you, act quickly - once your information has been stolen, thieves can go after everything from your bank account to your health insurance. If you think that your identity has been stolen, the Federal Trade Commissions suggests three steps to take to start getting your accounts back under your control.

1. Know where a fraud occurred? Call that company

Banks and credit card companies will have a fraud department. Call and tell them that someone stole your identity, and the company can help you close or freeze accounts. Once your accounts are frozen, no one can add charges without your permission. Then, start changing passwords and PIN numbers on your accounts.

2. Contact a credit bureau for a fraud alert

Placing a fraud alert through a credit bureau will make it much harder for someone to open an account in your name, and it is free. You'll simply contact one of the three credit bureaus - Experian, Equifax, or TransUnion - and they'll alert the other two. They'll send you a letter to confirm.

You'll also want to request your free credit report from each of the three bureaus through Annualcreditreport.com, to see if any more fraudulent activity has occurred.

3. Then, report it to the FTC

Go to the FTC's fraud reporting page online, or call 1-877-438-4338. Filing an identity theft report will help give you rights to help fix your credit report, and will allow you to access documents, stop debt collectors from reporting fraudulent accounts, and get fraudulent information removed from your account.

If you choose to file online, the FTC will help you make a recovery plan to get your accounts back under your control.

For more information on recovering after identity theft, read the FTC's recovery guide.

• Read more about the Capital One data breach:
• 100 million Capital One credit-card customers have had their data hacked. Here's what you should do instead of freaking out.
• Capital One says it was hit with data breach, affecting tens of millions of credit card applications
• The ex-Amazon employee accused of hacking into the 5th-largest credit-card company in the US posted about it online, the FBI says