Victim Of Identity Theft? Here Are 3 Steps That Can Help

You've always paid your credit card bills before they were due. Your rates on the few cards that you have are low as you've always been responsible for your actions etc.

Recently you've noticed that a few strange things have been going on and you're wondering if you've been an identity theft victim. You've been receiving some phone calls from debt collectors, a credit card has arrived in the mail that you didn't request or maybe you've even been turned down for a revolving charge card because you didn't make payments on something else.

All of these adverse situations may be an indicator that you have become the latest victim of identity theft. If in fact you think this may have occurred there are immediate actions you need to take. Those actions include notifying various fraud departments, monitoring your credit report and reporting your situation to law enforcement.

Report the Problem to Fraud Departments

If you've become an identity theft victim, the first thing you need to do is report it to the fraud department of the three credit bureaus. They are Experian, Equifax and Transunion. You can choose to report just to one of the bureaus as they will pass it on to the others so that they are all aware.

The action that the credit bureaus will take upon notification of identity theft will be the flagging of the account of the individual. This flagging process means that potential creditors will be required to personally call the individual who is making application for credit.

If you've reported your identity theft, as a victim you can expect your personal account to be flagged for 90 days. After the flagging you will be notified that this has been done and given a list of other rights for victims.

After you've received this information you can obtain a free copy of your credit report. It's also strongly advised that you make a formal request to the three credit bureaus that your account be flagged form the usual 90 days to 7 years.

After receiving the credit reports it is very important that the victim examines the reports closely to determine if any fraudulent activity has occurred. If it is determined that such actions exist, the victims of identity theft should writing the credit bureaus informing them of that activity. Once that activity has been reported, the credit bureaus are obligated under the law to suppress the reflection of this fraudulent activity to others who are authorized to look at the personal credit report.

About the Author

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