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What To Do If You Are A Victim Of Identity Theft

By: Stephen Chua

When you are reviewing your credit reports, you probably notice that there are erroneous records. Sometimes, these errors are caused by mistakes made at the credit bureau but they could be the results of identity theft.

In either case, such mistakes could hurt your credit score. If you believe you may have been a victim of identity theft, you should take action immediately to reduce the damage:

1) Contact the three major credit bureaus

You will want to talk to the fraud department and explain to them that you have been the victim of identity theft. Request that an "alert" be placed on your file. This will let anyone looking at your report know that you may have been the victim of fraud.

Doing this also allow you to be notified any time a lender asks to look at your file. Each time a lender does look at your file, it may be an indication that the identity thieves are trying to open a new account in your name.

When the lenders see the alert on your file, they will likely deny the thieves credit. In most cases the criminals will stop trying to use your identity after too many unsuccessful attempts.

Most alerts on your file last 90 to 180 days. However, if the identity thieves are very persistent, you can extend this period to several years by asking the credit agencies for an extension of the "fraud alert" in writing.

In some states, you can request your credit score and credit report to be freeze. This means your credit report is accessible by you and your existing creditors only.

If you have been the victim of identity theft, you are entitled to a free copy of your credit report. Be sure to take advantage of this offer so that you can check exactly how your credit has been affected.

2) Call the Federal Trade Commission (FTC)

FTC has setup a hotline at 1-877-438-4338 to help customers deal with fraud and identity theft. You can also use the complaint form at www.ftc.gov/idtheft. The FTC enters Internet, telemarketing, identity theft and other fraud-related complaints into Consumer Sentinel, a secure, online database available to hundreds of civil and criminal law enforcement agencies in the U.S. and abroad.

3) Contact the police.

Since identity theft is a crime, you need to file a police report so that you can help the police potentially catch the criminals responsible. Contacting the police will also give you a paper trail and proof that a crime has been committed. This will make it easier to repair your credit if identity thieves have damaged it.

4) Notify your creditors

You should contact your creditors or any creditors that the identity thieves have opened an account with as soon as possible. Explain your predicament to their security department. Most likely, you have to close your accounts or at least get your passwords changed to protect yourself.

You will not be held responsible for the charges incurred by the identity thieves as long as can prove that you are the victim. This can be tricky and you probably need some time to work with the police and the creditor security dept for a solution.

In the meantime, your credit score will likely take a dip but it is better than paying back a huge amount of debt that you are not responsible for.

Article Source: http://www.bluearticles.com


If you want to learn more about identity theft prevention, check out this article at my blog " 5 Steps to Prevent Identity Theft Online and Offline

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