New fraudulent accounts may continue to emerge for even longer. It can take years of hard work and persistence to correct wrong information about financial status. Creditors and the three major credit bureaus must be convinced that the theft occurred, credit histories must be corrected, and protective measures taken. If the perpetrator has a criminal record in the victim's name, similar efforts must be made to get this removed from official databases. Even if the perpetrator is apprehended and convicted, there is no guarantee personal information will be safe from future exploitation and it may be necessary to monitor the situation for years, and hire a lawyer to protect future credit history.
Victims can suffer enduring psychological scars.
Some victims of identity theft become hyper-vigilant and find it hard to trust anyone. Others feel angry, vulnerable, helpless, or violated. These feelings can be heightened by the struggle to correct records, clear names, and bring perpetrators to justice, as well as by repeated encounters with debt collectors and fears of lawsuits and garnished wages. States that have no specific identity-theft legislation may have other laws prohibiting the criminal behavior of identity thieves. Under the 1998 Identity Theft and Assumption Deterrence Act, identity theft became a federal offense.