Reporting Identity Theft - How to Report Identity Theft

As cases of identity theft continue to rise, reporting the crime quickly is a major factor in stemming any damage to your credit. By arming yourself with the knowledge of how to report identity theft, you can protect yourself as much as possible from the effects of this serious criminal offense.

Steps to take if you know your identity has been stolen

If you are certain that your identity has been stolen, you should immediately do four things to limit the impact on your credit status and deter any additional fraud:

Request a credit report fraud alert

In order to alert lenders and credit card companies that you suspect identity fraud, contact any of the three credit bureaus — Experian, Equifax, or TransUnion — to request that a fraud alert be placed in your file. The credit bureau you contact will notify the other two so all of your credit reports include the alert. By making the request, you can ask for a free copy of your credit report for review to assess any additional criminal activity in the forms of new accounts, credit line increases, or additional cards being sent out on existing accounts.

Equifax: www.equifax.com - 1-800-525-6285

Experian: www.experian.com - 1-888-397-3742

TransUnion: www.transunion.com -1-800-680-7289

Close bank and credit card accounts

To notify a lender or credit card company of identity theft, do so in writing and ask for your account to be closed. You can open a new account with them, but be sure to create new passwords and personal identification numbers to prevent further fraud. To dispute any fraudulent or incorrect activity on your account statements, complete and submit a fraud dispute form to your lender or credit card company.

Notify local police

It’s also important to notify your local police department about identity theft activity so you’ll have documentation of the crime when dealing with credit bureaus, lenders, and credit companies. Give the police as much information as possible regarding the who, what, where, when, and how of the crime, and ask for a copy of the report for your records.

Contact the Federal Trade Commission

Finally, contact the Federal Trade Commission (FTC) to file an “Identity Theft Complaint” which will help law enforcement authorities track and arrest identity thieves across the U.S. You can call the FTC at 1-877-438-4338 or go to their website at www.ftc.gov.

Identity theft protection services:

• IdentityTruth
- IdentityTruth protects your entire identity, going beyond credit. Advanced technology analyzes data, pinpoints potential fraud, and helps you minimize your risk.


• LifeLock Identity Theft Services
- LifeLock provides a proactive identity theft service, specializing in the prevention of identity theft rather than the reporting of it.


• TrustedID
- TrustedID’s® mission is to proactively protect consumers against identity theft, especially as identity theft is the fastest growing crime in the United States. Our innovative flagship product – IDFreeze® - stops identity theft before it ever happens.