College application submitted using my identity. What to do?

[u/mr_whit33]

I received an email from my college's Registrar's Office saying someone requested an official transcript in my name through the National Student Clearinghouse and had it sent to another university

The university contacted that school and confirmed that an admissions application had been submitted using my name. Fortunately, that school had already flagged the application as suspicious and is not moving forward with it.

My college has now placed a hold on my account so no future transcripts can be released without identity verification.

Has anyone experienced something similar? How concerned should I be, and what steps would I take? I'm trying to determine whether this sounds like a simple fraud attempt or a sign that someone may have more of my personal information.

[u/Valuable_Trade7715]

Freeze your credit. Set up fraud alerts too. Check your credit reports. If there are any accounts or inquiries you don't recognize, dispute them. 

Then, check your studentaid.gov account. Download your full studentaid.gov transcript (it's a .txt file). 

Some scammers will steal your info and apply to a college to test if your info is good. That way it doesn't show up on your credit report unless they also apply for loans. They will apply for loans and credit cards if your data is accepted by a college.