Ten years ago, Cathy Tooley and her husband, Chuck, were refinancing their house because interest rates had dropped.

“We have always had great credit, and were not at all concerned about the refinance,” said Cathy, now 53, who lives in Indiana in the US.

But when the bank ran a second credit check just before closing on the new loan, the Tooleys learned their application would be denied because numerous credit issues had appeared since they’d first applied, just six weeks prior.

The couple discovered their credit card details had been stolen at a petrol (gas) station, and someone had assumed Chuck’s identity. “[The person] had filed federal taxes, bought two cars, opened several charge cards and was working for a bank in Georgia under my husband’s name,” Cathy said. “My husband and I spent hours and hours on the phone with creditors to establish what was not ours. It took years to clear all of it.”

It’s still affecting us today.

The Tooleys are just one case in an identity theft problem that is growing globally. About one in 14 people in the US were victims of identity theft in 2014, according to the Bureau of Justice Statistics. In the UK, identity fraud cases in the first quarter of 2015 were up 27% from the same quarter in 2014, according to fraud prevention agency Cifas. And once your identity is stolen, it can take months — or even years — to straighten out the mess.

“It’s still affecting us today,” Cathy Tooley said. “We watch our credit with a microscope. We also put a security block on our credit.” It’s an inconvenience, but prevents the anguish the couple went through from happening again, she said.

Here’s what it’s like to fight back as a victim of identity fraud:

What it’s going to take: You’ll need a lot of patience, persistence and a notebook where you record every step in the process. “Any time you speak with someone about this, write down the date, time of call, name of the person or the representative ID number, the number you called and a brief summary so you have it in your records,” said Carrie Kerskie, a privacy and identity theft consultant and professional speaker in the US.

If a company later claims that you never contacted them, you can pinpoint the day and time you called. Often, they’ve recorded the phone calls. “That’s your proof,,” Kerskie said.

How long to prepare: Since you don’t know if or when your identity will be stolen, consider taking preventative steps to avoid it happening the first place. Use strong passwords for important accounts, and don’t click on email attachments that look even vaguely suspicious. Use a shredder to destroy old financial documents, and put sensitive files contractors and household employees can’t easily access them. Checkstopthinkconnect.org for other tips.

Set up two-factor authentication with your financial institutions, which means there’s an extra step required — beyond verifying your personal information — to make changes to your accounts.

“This helps ensure that a criminal needs more than your password to hack into your system,” said Eric Cernak, cyber practice lead for HSB, a US technology and property insurer. “If they attempt to access your account, you will likely be notified.”

Do it now: Find out what information was compromised. Was it just a credit card number? You may be able to call your credit card company, report fraudulent activity, get a new card issued, and go on with your life. Was it your name, phone number and address along with an important government tax identifier like a Social Security Number or National Insurance Number? You have much bigger problems. What was stolen will inform how wide-reaching your clean-up operation will be.

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