Credit Report Identity Theft
By Rick Hazeltine
Staff Editorial Writer
Perhaps you noticed a charge on your credit card you didn't remember making. Or, worse, you were denied credit for having too much debt. In either case, you make the smart choice to get a copy of your credit report.
Then it hits you. There are credit cards on the report you don't own, a loan you didn't take out and an empty feeling in your stomach.
You are a victim of identity theft.
You think: "What do I do now?"
Fortunately, there are legal procedures designed to help you recover from credit report identity theft.
The Fair Credit Reporting Act outlines how consumers can have fraudulent information on their credit report corrected.
You should immediately notify the credit report company that your report contains fraudulent charges. You also must notify the business, such as a credit card company or lender, that there are fraudulent charges or fraudulent accounts under your name.
To help you with credit report identity theft, both the credit report company and all businesses reporting what you believe to be fraudulent transactions are required by law to correct the erroneous information on your credit report.
Before you contact the credit reporting companies — Experian, Equifax and TransUnion — you need to produce an identity theft report and a letter describing the information on your credit report that you believe to be fraudulent. You must specifically state which information does not relate to any transaction that you made or authorized. You need to make a case for why you believe you are a victim of credit report identity theft.
The identity theft report is a police report with more detailed information about the fraud as an attachment. Some police departments have their own form or they may allow you to use a prepared form, such as the one available through the Federal Trace Commission at www.FTC.gov.
Many police departments will allow you to get a copy of the police report once the officer has filed the paperwork. If your police department does not allow this, make sure to get the report number so you can refer to it when you send the identity theft report to the credit reporting company and any businesses that reported what you believe to be fraudulent charges.
When you send copies to the credit reporting companies and businesses, be sure to use certified mail with a return receipt requested. If any of the companies ask for additional information, they have to make the request within 15 days of receiving your identity theft report. They then have an additional 15 days to make sure you provide everything they need in the identity theft report.
Many of the forms you need to report credit card identity theft can be downloaded at www.FTC.gov.
Once the credit reporting company accepts your identity theft report, it has four business days to block the fraudulent information from your credit report.
Unfortunately, you will have to prove the charges or accounts on your credit report are fraudulent. It's a good idea to call each of the businesses that reported fraudulent charges to the credit reporting companies, find out what information they require and exactly where you should send the information.
