<prompt> Human: Hi, my sister and I are college students and our younger sister just recently graduated high school. Were at a loss at what to do as we know nothing of finances-- our mother always handled it. Both of my sisters both received calls that they are owed money o the Debt Collector and, through snooping, we discovered credit cards under our names in our mothers purse. A bit of background: our mother is consistently late on payments, bills, rent, everything. My sister and I just recently opened personal bank accounts so we could deposit the refund from scholarships because we were tired of our mother spending it all and, thus, not allowing us to be able to pay for our housing as we live away from home for school. What can we do? What is there to do? How can we ensure this doesnt happen again?EDIT: A bunch of thanks to those who were incredibly helpful-- I was not expecting this to blow up. I was simply looking for a process to follow when moving forward from this. I plan to read through the rest as soon as I have the time.  <response>: 1. File a police report. You have to. This will probably be the most difficult part for you, but once you get the sheer inertia going to actually call the cops and let them know your identity has been stolen by your mother, the rest will be much easier for you.2. Get your free credit reports and find out exactly how many cards have been taken out in your name.3. Contact all the creditors you have cards under and close all of those accounts and tell them your identity has been stolen.4. Contact the 3 credit reporting bureaus and report your identity as stolen and dispute the charges. Use the police report you filed to help as proof.5. DO STEP 1. Have your sisters do step 1. You really really have to. 