Consumers need to watch their credit reports and banking statements like a hawk. There is millions of ID Theft victims every year. Banks loose money, consumers get billed for debt they did not charge. Bank service fees go up to cover their losses.

If you are a victim of theft there are some steps you need to take to protect yourself and begin to fix the problems resulting.

1. Call all creditors involved in the theft. If you catch the discrepancy in time you can prevent minimal cost to yourself. You should tell the creditor on new accounts you did not open to close them out and start a fraud investigation. You should tell the creditor on existing accounts to close the old account and open up a new one. It is a good idea to add a pin number to the new account to add extra security so the theft does not happen again.

2. You should visit the Federal Trade Commission to file a complaint and obtain an ID Theft Affidavit. This is an all in one form to complete and forward copies to all companies involved in investigating the fraud. You need to send copies to all 3 credit reporting agencies, creditors, and collection agencies, and the police department.

3. Contact your local police department to file an ID Theft report, sometimes they will tell you that you have to contact the police department in the town where the theft took place. Sometimes they don’t take police reports, in that case ask if you can file a miscellaneous report. If the local police can not help you, it does not hurt to try higher up, contact county or state police.

3. Contact all 3 of the major credit reporting agency to activate a fraud alert. These alerts just last 3 months, so if you are still having trouble past the 3 months, be sure to call back in to activate the fraud alert again, as often as needed. It is a good idea to send the credit reporting agencies a request to add a victim statement. In the victim statement you want to say: “I am a victim of ID Theft, please call me to verify identity before extending new credit” Be sure to give them your cell phone number if you have one for quicker response. A victim statement will stay on your credit report until you write back in to remove it. The credit reporting agency will send you a free copy of your credit report (you are entitled to two free reports per year), when you receive it look over all information and call customer service with the credit reporting agency to dispute all accounts affected by theft. They will immediately remove and forward dispute to creditor for further investigation.

TransUnion:

1-800-680-7289;

www.transunion.com;

Fraud Victim Assistance Division,

P.O. Box 6790,

Fullerton, CA 92834-6790

Equifax:

1-800-525-6285;

www.equifax.com;

P.O. Box 740241,

Atlanta, GA 30374-0241

Experian:

1-888-EXPERIAN (397-3742);

www.experian.com;

P.O. Box 9532,

Allen, TX 75013

4. Keep records of everyone you talk to regarding the investigation. Take down name of company, time and date you called, the name of the rep that spoke to you, the phone number and extension needed to reach that person again. And notes about what you spoke about. Now tape recording phone calls are not allowed in all states, but if you notify the rep that you will be recording the conversation and they agree then you can. Sometimes that is really a good idea, because you might get flustered and forget what you talked about.

There are other companies you may need to contact regarding your particular case of theft, you can visit the Federal Trade Commission site and click on the theft logo on the bottom right corner of the main page to find more information.

Consumers may need to also contact:

Secret Service – They do handle major ID Theft situations.

Bank and Credit System Reporting Agencies – They are separate from the major credit reporting agencies.

FDIC or NCUA – These are the companies that regulate the banks and credit unions.

Post Office – Mail Fraud may have been a factor in the theft.

Social Security – Sometimes you can get issued a new social security number in unresolvable cases.

There are more but you should be able to find them here:

www.ftc.gov