There have a rise of identity theft crimes these past few months, most especially the attack on American hotel branches earlier this July. Identity theft, the unauthorized use of someone else’s financial and credit information to make purchases and transaction using their name, affects thousands of people every year and there’s no telling if you are a victim or not until you find your accounts tampered. So what are you supposed to do in case you fid your self a victim? Read on to know.
Alert the Credit Bureaus
You need to contact the three top credit bureaus (Equifax, Experian, and TransUnion) and notify them of your situation as soon as possible. You would only need to contact at least one of them, then that bureau that you have informed would also inform the other two.
Establish Fraud Alerts...
You also need to establish fraud alerts in which the credit bureaus would arrange for you and you could request to extend the alert up to seven years if you need, but you would need a police report and evidence of attempts of opening fraudulent accounts to establish that seven year fraud alert. You could cancel the fraud at anytime you need.
...or a Credit Freeze on your Account
A security freeze is a stronger protection against identity thieves and could also be requested from the three major credit bureaus if you have an identity theft report form the police. Once the freeze is applied, you would get a PIN number that you could provide your creditors to temporarily access to your credit record.
Report to the Federal Trade Com (FTC) and authorities
The FTC could coordinate and share information with investigators across the country to help solve cases of identity theft crimes. You could contact the FTC office via its Identity Theft line (877) IDTHEFT (877-438-4338) or sign its identity theft complaint paper that is available. You could also notify the local authorities, and give them documented evidence most especially the identity theft instance that you get a copy of for future use.
Make a Thorough Credit Report Monitoring
Credit Report Monitoring is the inspection of said financial document if there are any further errors, misinformation, or unauthorized transactions that happen with your accounts. You could request a copy your credit report from the three credit bureaus every twelve months, but there are ways to get that report more frequently. Simply check if there are any new developments with your credit accounts that occur without your knowledge or if there is anything you need to sort out.
Identity theft could strike anytime and anywhere. So it is best that you are well-informed and well-advised to know what to do when the time comes.