<prompt> Human: Hi PF,Im a 30 year old female in the U.S. and my credit has been wrecked by fraudulent charges made in the past by my mother in my name.My current credit score according to creditkarma is 570. Ive gotten all three of my credit reports and they show many accounts that have been sent to collections andor charged off. I have about 27k i student loan debt that Ive never missed a payment on. I also have a joint credit card with my dad that has a long credit history and has also never been late, although it does carry a high balance.According to my credit report, I have a released tax lien from my county from June 2010. It shows that it was paid in April of this year, but I know for a fact that I did not pay this because I didnt know about it until tonight.The following four items appear on my credit report as Adverse Accounts:1. Changed off balance of 429. It is estimated to drop off in December 20152. Balance of 676 which has been sold to another agency. This shows up as In Collections.3. Charged off balance of 408. It is estimated to drop off in June 2014.4. Balance of 517 which has been sold to another agency. This shows up as In Collections.Not only did I not open these accounts, but I was unaware of their existence until I pulled my report tonight. Under Satisfactory Accounts I have my joint credit card with my dad and my student loans. Both of these accounts are in good standing and have never missed a payment.So, PF, where do I go from here? How do I stop her from doing this again? Should I attempt to contact the collections agencies and try to get these things deleted off my report? Am I going to have to eat all this debt that my mom has racked up? Is there any way that I can resolve this without getting her thrown in jail? Thanks so much for any help  <response>: Take a copy of your credit reports to your local police station. Tell them you need to file an identity theft report. Highlight the accounts that were fraudulently opened. When they ask if you know who might have stolen your identity you need to be honest and tell them. Its up to the the legal system to determine how much trouble your mom gets in, but she did that to herself. Actions have consequences. Next, write letters to all three credit bureaus with the highlighted accounts and a include a copy of the police report stating that those accounts were a result of identity theft and they will be removed from your account and you wont owe any money. Sorry youre going through this. 