This happened to me. In the space of three months someone(s?) tried to open 22 accounts in my name; credit cards, gas company cards, Best Buy, Walmart, you name it. They used three different addresses (all in the Houston area and all bogus), and the credit bureaus added those new addresses to my record.
It took a lot of work, but I got all the bogus stuff removed, filed a police report and got a 7 year lock on my accounts. Even I can't open a new account without answering a bunch of questions that only I could answer. They have to call me on my cell phone just to verify that I'm trying to get credit, then call the merchant and ask them to hand the phone to me for the third degree. I never use my debit card with the pin number - always use it as credit - per the advice of my bank. I have a password on my bank account that is required to withdraw or deposit money.
The credit bureaus won't volunteer the information, but you can get a credit lock for one year just by asking for it. For seven years you have to send them proof of attempted or successful identity theft, and they can't charge you for it, even though they will try to.
I now have Lifelock.
