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Reporting and Resolving Fraud
Despite your best efforts to protect yourself, you have become a
victim. Now what?
The following steps should be taken immediately and at the same time to best insure your protection.
- Record Keeping – In the process of resolving the theft of your identity,
be sure to keep records of all correspondence with the creditors and government
agencies you contact. Include the date and name of contact. Follow up all telephone
contacts with a letter and keep a copy.
- Creditors – Notify all creditors and financial institutions, in writing
and by phone, that your name and accounts have been used without your permission. If
an existing account has been stolen, ask the credit or bank to issue you new cards,
checks and account numbers. Carefully monitor the account activity to the issuing
company immediately. The Fair Credit Billing Act (FCBA) is a federal law that limits
a consumer’s responsibility for fraudulent charges to $50.
If your bank accounts have been tampered with, close those accounts, destroy any checks
and cut up any ATM cards. If your checks have been stolen or misused, stop payment on
all checks. Open a new account and reissue checks to legitimate creditors. Also, ask
your bank to notify its check verification company to stop giving approval for any of
the stolen checks.
- Local Law Enforcement – Immediately file a police or identity theft report
with your local police. Provide them with as much documentation as possible. Make sure
that the accounts are listed on the report. Also, get a copy of the report. Credit
card companies, banks and credit reporting agencies may require you to show a police
report to support your claim that a crime was committed.
- Federal Law Enforcement – Report the crime to the Federal Trade Commission (FTC).
The FTC collects complaints about identity theft from consumers and stores them in a
secure online database called the Consumer Sentinel that is available to law
enforcement agencies worldwide. The FTC provides information on ways to resolve
problems resulting from identity theft and refers individuals to various private and
government agencies for further action.
Federal Trade Commission Consumer Response Center
600 Pennsylvania Avenue, N.W.
Washington, DC 20580
1-877-IDTHEFT
www.consumer.gov/idtheft
- The Credit Reporting Agencies – Contact the fraud unit at one of the
three national credit reporting agencies. Have a fraud alert placed on your credit
report to help prevent new fraudulent accounts from being opened. The agency you
contact will notify the others to place a fraud alert in their files. Keep track of
when the alert expires so you can ask for another one, if necessary. However, not
all creditors check your credit report before issuing a new account.
As an ID fraud victim, you are entitled to free copies of your credit report. Once
you have become a victim, ask the three national agencies for a copy of your credit
report every three months. This can help determine how many and which accounts
listed are fraudulent. You can also identify the existing accounts that have been
stolen
Equifax 1-800-525-6285
Experian 1-888-397-3742
Trans Union 1-800-680-7289
- Utility Companies – Ask utility companies (local and long distance
telephone service providers, gas, electric and water companies) to watch out for
anyone ordering services in your name. If someone has ordered services in your name,
cancel those accounts. If you are having trouble with falsified accounts, contact
your state Public Utility Commission.
- Other Resources to Contact –
- United States Postal Inspection
U.S. Postal Inspection Service
475 L’Enfant Plaza
Washington, DC 20260
1-202-268-2284
www.usps.gov/websites/depart/inspect
- United States Secret Service (USSS) – Generally, the USSS will intervene
only when the dollar amount of the crime is high. However, they should still be
notified in case it is part of a larger fraud ring
U.S. Secret Service
Contact your local field office
www.ustreas.gov/usss
- Social Security Administration (SSA) – The SSA does not generally take
action unless there is a high dollar amount, workplace impersonation or crimes
committed in your name. They will only change your SSN if you fit their fraud victim criteria.
Social Security Administration
6401 Security Boulevard
Baltimore, MD 21235
1-800-269-271 (fraud hotline)
- Call for Action, Inc - Call for Action, Inc is an international nonprofit network
of consumer hotlines. CFA volunteers provide assistance and mediate cases on behalf of
consumers and small businesses. For more information on identity theft
visit www.callforaction.org
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