Identity Theft & Your Rights
Do You Believe You’ve Become The Victim Of Identity Theft?
Perhaps you’ve begun receiving letters in the mail, phone calls notifying you of a debt that doesn’t sound familiar with you or you’ve pulled your credit reports only to learn that there is something there that doesn’t look familiar at all.
1 in every 5 credit reports contain errors and the FTC reports that they received over 1.4 Million identity theft complaints in 2021 alone.
You aren’t alone, and you don’t have to fight for your rights alone.
Steps You Should Take If You Believe You’ve Become A Victim Of Identity Theft:
Validate & Verify
The first step you should take if you learn about an account or transaction that you did not authorize is validate the debt or account. Finding out when the transaction or account was created, where, how, and any signature on file as well as any attached or associated addresses or phone numbers as those things may be applicable to the account should be your first step in the process. If the information you uncover was not authorized by yourself or any authorized user of the account proceed to the following steps.
File A Police Report
Go to your local police office serving your home address, and request to have a police report filled out. Bring copies of any accounts and evidence you may have as supporting documentation, and make sure to bring your photo ID, a copy of your credit reports showing the accounts reporting, and any other supporting documentation you may need including your Social Security Card to show the officer taking the report it is the correct report that’s reporting the account or transaction(s) not authorized.
File An FTC Fraud Affidavit
File A Complaint With Each Of The 3 Bureaus & Attaching The FTC Fraud Affidavit & Police Report
While the FTC Fraud Affidavit is not 100% needed it is always a good step to take to fill this document out and we recommend giving this process about an hour. You’ll want a copy of your police report you’ve filed and all supporting documentation for the case you’re filing. Print out a copy of this report for your records and attach a copy in the next step.
Once you’ve filed an FTC Fraud Affidavit and Police Report, File a dispute with each of the 3 credit bureaus and attach copies of the FTC Fraud Affidavit and Police Report and mail certified return receipt.
What To Do If Creditors and Agencies Won’t Help
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Submit a Claim To The CFPB Against The Creditor & Agency(s) Not Correcting The Information.
While this step is not necessarily needed we recommend to take it to place any potentially wrongful parties on notice that you are not taking this matter. Legally, by law you have rights and any inaccurate accounts MUST be removed if they are truly not yours. The same applies in the case of transactions, if your creditor, a collection agency or the bureaus will not work with you to get the transactions reversed and reported correctly then you will need to file a complaint with the CFPB so that this information can be placed on record against the organizations violating the law.
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Continue To Try To Work With Creditors and The Bureaus To Get Items Corrected.
While the process of removing inaccurate items, accounts, and even transactions due to fraud can be tedius and daunting, it’s a process that is necessary and unfortunately efforts to get things corrected don’t always work the first time around. Sometimes you have to put some pressure on the bureaus and the creditors and remain firm in your commitment to the process. Try 2 up to 3x more and then move on to the next steps while documenting every letter sent (certified return receipt) and keeping copies of your letters to provide to an attorney if need be. Cite previous letters, and attach copies of previous letters if you can to any current disputes to show the bureaus and creditors that you are serious.
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Seek The Help Of An Attorney
If all attempts to take care of this on your own over a course of lets say 90 days fails, contact an attorney that specializes in Fair Credit Reporting, and Fair Debt Collection Practices as you may have a case in one or both areas of the law.
While attorneys can not necessarily do any more than you can it’s always in your best interest to consult an attorney when your consumer rights are being blatantly ignored and violated.