Financially-reformed Cap from StopBuyingCrap.com (love the domain name) found one unpleasant surprise when he signed up for Quizzle: an unauthorized balance for $20,000 on his free credit report. Not fun.
After some investigation, Cap realized the debt had been opened a family member. Lucky enough to pinpoint the source, Cap can make sure the debt gets paid and off his report as soon as possible. For some people not lucky enough to find offenders, fixing identity fraud can be a long and harrowing road with little recourse available.
Paraphrasing here from the Federal Trade Commission, here are the steps to take if you’ve been the victim of identity theft:
1. Get copies of your credit report from every bureau and place a fraud alert. You only need to contact one of the bureaus – that company is required to alert the other two. Here is the contact info for each bureau:
- 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- 397-3742; www.experian.com; P.O. Box 9532, Allen, TX 75013
2. Close the accounts that have been tampered with or opened fraudulently. Speak with the fraud departments and send them any documentation they need via certified mail. Many companies may have their own dispute forms available. If not, the FTC has an ID Theft Affidavit you can download and fill out and should cover everything the company needs to know. Get documentation from that company stating the account has been closed for proof.
3. File a complaint with the FTC. Couldn’t be easier. The whole complaint process can be completed online. When you do this, you help them catch identity thieves all other the country. This is a war best waged by many people, not just a few.
4. File a police report. Even if your local police office is reluctant, insist on a police report. It’s your identity! Make sure you bring all your documentation from the FTC and disputed accounts as support.
And, like Cap, always be aware. The best way to not have your identity stolen is to constantly be on top of things. Quizzle loves you enough to give you a free credit report and free credit score every 6 months.
Also, thanks to Cap for his lovely review of Quizzle. He’s got a pretty sweet finance blog too and we promise not to be jealous if you go check it out. Just come back, k? We’ll miss you.
December 15th, 2008 at 9:15 am
U may consider Lifelock one of the best identity theft protection service.
December 18th, 2008 at 1:48 pm
Its sad to hear that the identity theft was perpetrated by a family member. Unfortunately, this is all too common. The most audacious cases even involve children- an adult relative who has burned through their own credit will then compromise the child’s credit. Typically, no one finds out until the child gets to adulthood and begins applying for credit only to find that they have a many years long, typically damaged, credit history. As a previous commenter suggested, identity theft protection services do help mitigate the risks of identity theft for individuals and families. Several of them are reviewed here:
Hope this is helpful and glad to hear that Cap is well on the way to recovery!
January 12th, 2009 at 9:49 am
LifeLock is a good identity theft protection, I sign up with ID Watch Dog six months ago and I like their identity protection services.