Contact each of the three major credit bureaus if you discover that you are the victim of identity fraud. You are entitled to a free copy of your credit report if you are unemployed, on welfare, were recently denied credit or if your report is inaccurate because of fraud. Otherwise, there is a fee of $8.50 for your credit report. When contacting the credit bureaus, you need to provide your Social Security number, date of birth, phone number, current address, any previous addresses over the past two years, and the name of your current employer.
Equifax
To report fraud by mail, contact Equifax at
P.O. Box 740256
Atlanta, GA 30374.
To order your report by telephone, contact 1-800-685-1111.
To report fraud over the telephone, contact 1-800-525-6285.
You can also access Equifax’s Web site at www.equifax.com.
Experian
To order your report by mail, contact
P.O. Box 2002
Allen, TX 75013.
To report fraud by mail, contact
P.O. Box 9532
Allen, TX 75013.
To order your credit report or report fraud by telephone,
contact 1-888-EXPERIAN (397-3742).
You can also access Experian’s Web site at www.experian.com.
Trans Union
To order your report by mail, contact
P.O. Box 1000
Chester, PA 19022.
To order your report by telephone, call 1-800-888-4213.
To report fraud by mail, contact
Fraud Victim Assistance Division
P.O. Box 6790
Fullerton, CA 92834.
To report fraud by telephone, call 1-800-680-7289.
You can also access Trans Union’s Web site at www.tuc.com.
The Federal Trade Commission (FTC) is the federal clearinghouse for identity theft complaints. Although the FTC does not have the authority to bring criminal cases, it helps victims of identity theft by providing them with information to help resolve the financial and other problems that result from identity theft. The FTC also may refer victims’ complaints to other appropriate government agencies and private organizations for action.
Contact the FTC by calling its toll-free hotline at 1-877-IDTHEFT (438-4338), by writing to
Identity Theft Clearinghouse
Federal Trade Commission
600 Pennsylvania Avenue, NW
Washington, DC 2058
or by accessing its Web site at www.consumer.gov/section/scams-and-identity-theft. The FTC also provides very detailed information about identity theft through this Web address: http://www.ftc.gov/bcp/edu/microsites/idtheft/consumers/about-identity-theft.html
The Social Security Fraud Hotline should be contacted if your Social Security number is being misused. Contact the Social Security Fraud Hotline by mail at
P.O. Box 17768
Baltimore, MD 21235
by telephone at 1-800-269-0271, by fax at 1-410-597-0118
and by e-mail at oig.hotline@ssa.gov.
You can also access its Web site at www.ssa.gov.
Contact the following bank regulators if you have persistent problems resolving your identity fraud problems with a financial institution:
State Banking Departments are the primary regulators for state-licensed and state-chartered financial entities (but not entities that fall under Federal jurisdiction, which often have the word "Federal" in the name). Many state Banking Departments maintain Web sites. You can find hotlinks to many of them through the Money Transmitter Regulators' Association Web site at http://www.mtraweb.org/links.html, or through an Internet search engine with the terms "Banking Department" and the name of your state. For help with a complaint about a bank that is a member of the Federal Reserve System, you may also write to:
Board of Governors of the Federal Reserve System
Division of Consumer and Community Affairs
20th and C Streets, N.W., Stop 801
Washington, DC 20551
or call 1-202-452-3693. To learn which types of complaints the Federal Reserve handles, view the Federal Reserve Web site at www.federalreserve.gov.
The Office of the Comptroller of Currency regulates national banks, which can usually be identified because they have the words "national" or "national association" in their titles or the letters N.A. or NT&SA following their titles. If you are unable to resolve a complaint with the bank yourself, contact the
Office of the Comptroller of Currency Consumer Assistance Group at
1301 McKinney Street, Suite 3710
Houston, TX 77010.
You can also contact this agency by telephone at 1-800-613-6743 (business days 9:00 a.m. to 3:30 p.m. CST)
by accessing its Web site at www.occ.treas.gov
or by e-mail at Customer.Assistance@occ.treas.gov.
The Office of Thrift Supervision regulates savings banks and savings and loan banks having the word "Federal" in their name or which use the initials FSB (federal savings bank) or FSLA (federal savings and loan association). You can contact this agency at the national level by writing to
Office of Thrift Supervision
1700 G. Street, NW
Washington, DC 20552
202-906-6000.
You can also contact this agency by telephone at 1-800-842-6929
by accessing its Web site at www.ots.treas.gov
or by e-mail at consumer.complaint@ots.treas.gov.
The U.S. Postal Inspector can assist if an identity thief stole your mail to get new credit cards, bank and credit card statements, pre-screened offers, tax information, or if a thief has falsified change-of-address forms. Contact your local post office for the phone number for the nearest postal inspection service or check the Postal Service Web site at www.usps.gov/websites/depart/inspect.
The Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI) is one of the federal criminal law enforcement agencies that investigates cases of identity theft. Local field offices are listed in the Blue Pages of your telephone directory. You can also access the FBI’s Web site at www.fbi.gov.
The Better Business Bureau can be contacted if you would like to check the Reliability Rating of a company or if you have a problem resolving fraudulent charges.
The BBB can be reached in a number of ways.
To file a complaint with the Better Business Bureau through this Web site, click here: http://www.bbb.org/complaints
You may look up a company report through this Web site, click here:
http://search.bbb.org/
