(MONEY Magazine) – It's a scary scenario: A thief gets hold of your Social Security number, signs up for credit cards in your name, then goes on a shopping spree. Worse, you're none the wiser until you try to finance your dream house and you are denied because the credit agencies have written you off as a deadbeat. Until recently, it took as much as a year for an identity-theft victim to sort out the mess, filing separate hand-written forms with as many as 20 credit companies, agencies and government offices. In February, however, the Federal Trade Commission--which received more reports of identity theft than any other consumer complaint last year--simplified the lengthy credit-repair process. Now you can use one form to report the crime to most of the parties involved. (Download the form from www.consumer.gov/idtheft or call 877-id-theft.) All three credit bureaus and 25 major creditors such as AT&T and Sears have agreed to accept the affidavit, and more are expected to follow soon.

--MAYA JACKSON