Know your legal protections

If you fall victim to fraud or have your identity stolen, it can be a long road back to normalcy. Fortunately, you have legal rights:

• Create a Federal Trade Commission (FTC) identity theft report. Links to an external site.
• Place a free fraud alert at one credit reporting bureau to alert potential creditors that you have experienced identity theft. That reporting company will notify the other two. An initial fraud alert is valid for 90 days, after which you can renew it.
• Obtain documents related to fraudulent transactions or accounts opened using your information.
• Ask debt collectors for details of the fraudulent debts and ask them to stop contacting you.
• If fraudulent charges are found, report them to the business where they occurred and request the business not report it against you with the credit agencies if possible.
• Dispute inaccuracies and have fraudulent information removed from your credit report.

When you are the victim of identity theft, you can request another free credit report from the three major reporting agencies.

For more on identity theft protections and documentation, read the Victim of Identify Theft – Know Your Rights topic.

 

(8/9)