Victim Assistance - Identity
Restoration
Identity
Restoration Continued: ID Sentinal Alert Victim
Assistance: Sometimes an identity thief
can strike even if you’ve been very careful
about keeping your personal information to yourself.
If you suspect that your personal information
has been hijacked and misappropriated to commit
fraud or theft, take action immediately, and
keep a record of your conversations and correspondence.
You may want to use the form, “Chart Your
Course of Action,” below. Exactly which
steps you should take to protect yourself depends
on your circumstances and how your identity
has been misused. However, six basic actions
are appropriate in almost every case.
Click
on a step below to learn more about what you
should do:
1. Call Us Immediately
2. Place a fraud alert on your
credit reports and review your credit reports.
3.
Close any accounts that have been
tampered with or opened fraudulently.
4. File a report with your local
police or the police in the community where
the identity theft took place.
5.
File a complaint with the FTC.
6.
Chart your course of action.
If
you suspect you are a victim of identity theft,
contact us as soon as possible at 888-205-4005.
ID
Sentinal Alert Customer Service Representatives
are certified experts in the identity theft
recovery process. Each of our representatives
has received hours of specialized training in
victim assistance. They will answer any questions
or concerns you may have and immediately formulate
a personalized plan of action.
You
can count on ID Sentinal Alert to take charge
of this unfortunate situation. We'll put your
mind at ease and, most importantly, put your
identity back in your control.
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Call
the toll-free fraud number of any one of the
three major credit bureaus to place a fraud
alert on your credit report. This can help prevent
an identity thief from opening additional accounts
in your name. As soon as the credit bureau confirms
your fraud alert, the other two credit bureaus
will automatically be notified to place fraud
alerts on your credit report, and all three
reports will be sent to you free of charge.
- Equifax
- To report fraud, call: 1-800-525-6285, and
write: P.O. Box 740241, Atlanta, GA 30374-0241
-
Experian - To report fraud, call: 1-888-EXPERIAN
(397-3742), and write: P.O. Box 9532, Allen,
TX 75013
-
TransUnion - To report fraud, call: 1-800-680-7289,
and write: Fraud Victim Assistance Division,
P.O. Box 6790, Fullerton, CA 92834-6790
Once
you receive your reports, review them carefully.
Look for inquiries you didn’t initiate,
accounts you didn’t open, and unexplained
debts on your true accounts. Where “inquiries”
appear from the company(ies) that opened the
fraudulent account(s), request that these “inquiries”
be removed from your report. You should also
check that information such as your SSN, address(es),
name or initial, and employers are correct.
Inaccuracies in this information also may be
due to typographical errors. Nevertheless, whether
the inaccuracies are due to fraud or error,
you should notify the credit bureau as soon
as possible by telephone and in writing. You
should continue to check your reports periodically,
especially in the first year after you’ve
discovered the theft, to make sure no new fraudulent
activity has occurred. The automated “one-call”
fraud alert process only works for the initial
placement of your fraud alert. Orders for additional
credit reports or renewals of your fraud alerts
must be made separately at each of the three
major credit bureaus.
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Credit
Accounts
Credit accounts include all accounts with banks,
credit card companies and other lenders, and
phone companies, utilities, ISPs, and other
service providers.
If
you’re closing existing accounts and opening
new ones, use new Personal Identification Numbers
(PINs) and passwords.
If
there are fraudulent charges or debits, ask
the company about the following forms for disputing
those transactions:
-
For new unauthorized accounts, ask if the
company accepts the ID Theft Affidavit (available
at www.ftc.gov/bcp/conline/pubs/credit/affidavit.pdf
or in the Appendix below). If they don’t,
ask the representative to send you the company’s
fraud dispute forms.
-
For your existing accounts, ask the representative
to send you the company’s fraud dispute
forms.
-
If your ATM card has been lost, stolen or
otherwise compromised, cancel the card as
soon as you can. Get a new card with a new
PIN.
Checks
If your checks have been stolen or misused,
close the account and ask your bank to notify
the appropriate check verification service.
While no federal law limits your losses if someone
steals your checks and forges your signature,
state laws may protect you. Most states hold
the bank responsible for losses from a forged
check, but they also require you to take reasonable
care of your account. For example, you may be
held responsible for the forgery if you fail
to notify the bank in a timely way that a check
was lost or stolen. Contact your state banking
or consumer protection agency for more information.
You
also should contact these major check verification
companies. Ask that retailers who use their
databases not accept your checks.
- TeleCheck
- 1-800-710-9898 or 927-0188
- Certegy,
Inc. - 1-800-437-5120
- International
Check Services - 1-800-631-9656
Call
SCAN (1-800-262-7771) to find out if the identity
thief has been passing bad checks in your name.
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Keep
a copy of the report. You may need it to validate
your claims to creditors. If you can’t
get a copy, at least get the report number.
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By
sharing your identity theft complaint with the
FTC, you will provide important information
that can help law enforcement officials track
down identity thieves and stop them. The FTC
also can refer victim complaints to other appropriate
government agencies and companies for further
action. The FTC enters the information you provide
into our secure database.
To
file a complaint or to learn more about the
FTC’s Privacy Policy, visit www.consumer.gov/idtheft.
If you don’t have access to the Internet,
you can call the FTC’s Identity Theft
Hotline: toll-free 1-877-IDTHEFT (438-4338);
TDD: 202-326-2502; or write:
Identity
Theft Clearinghouse
Federal Trade Commission,
600 Pennsylvania Avenue, NW
Washington, DC 20580
Tips
on Filing a Police Report
Tips on Organizing
your Case
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Keeping
your case organized is important to the recovery
of your good name.
Click
on the link of your choice to download or print
out a convenient tracking chart:
Tracking
Chart (Downloadable Document)
Tracking
Chart (Printable Web Page, Formatted sideways
to accommodate your printer)
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