How to detect identity theft on your credit reports

How to detect identity theft on your credit reports

This article will discuss how to detect identity theft on your credit reports and to get them removed. The first thing you need to do is obtain a free copy of your credit report from the three credit bureaus: equifax, experian and trans union. You can do this by going to annualcreditreport.com and ordering a copy. Pulling your own credit will not hurt your credit. Once you have your free credit report you need to review it for any errors or accounts that you do not recognize. Generally to detect identity theft you will see accounts on your credit reports that do not belong to you or a bunch of hard inquiries appearing for someone who is trying to obtain credit in your name.

After you have pulled your credit report and identified the accounts that do not belong to you there are two things you need to do. The first is file a police report and list in the report all the accounts that you do not recognize. The second is to file an affidavit with the Federal Trade Commission explaining how your identity was stolen. The link is here https://www.consumer.ftc.gov/articles/pdf-0094-identity-theft-affidavit.pdf

You can also contact the accounts that are listed on your report as fraudulent and notify these companies of your identity theft problem. Each company should have a fraud department and allow you to file your dispute with them. These companies should conduct an investigation as to your identity theft claim and notify you of the results promptly.

After you have filed your dispute with each company and obtained the police report or affidavit you need to then write a dispute letter to the credit bureaus. The letter needs to alert the bureaus that your identity has been stolen and that the accounts listed need to remove. In the dispute letter to the bureaus you need to attach the police report and/or the Federal Trade Commission identity theft affidavit, as well as the fraud disputes that you filed with each company. If items keep on appearing on your credit report that do not belong to you then you can also request that your credit report be frozen. There is no cost to do this. If the bureaus do not fix your credit report after you have alerted them of your identity theft then you have a case against them. Contact us at Cook Law for a free consultation.