1.If you think that you have been a victim of fraud, the first thing you should do is contacting the fraud department of the credit card company to make sure that a fraud alert is made on your credit report.
Fraud alerts act as warnings for creditors in case someone makes an account or a transaction in your name. Fraud alerts come in two types: initial alert and extended alert.
The difference between these two fraud alerts is in terms of their duration. The initial alert usually last for ninety days on your credit report while the extended fraud alert stays much longer and last for as long as seven years. You can choose between these two frauds alerts the best one that you think will provide you with a better protection. Plus you only have to contact only one of the consumers reporting companies since it will simply relay to the other two the fraud alert.
2. Another good decision that should be made fast when it comes to identity theft is closing your account to prevent any transactions from being made. If you want to obtain information about any accounts opened in your name you should use the ID Theft Affidavit.
3. Complaining to the local police department in your city or filing a report concerning identity theft can be one of the best things to do when identity theft happens to you. Also, you should keep a copy of the report to show it to the creditors as a proof of the crime.
4. You also need to file a complaint at the Federal Trade Commission because they need to register your case in their identity theft cases database. When filing a complaint you will be informed about any legal issues and any problems that will come up during the process.
No one is safe from identity theft. Anyone can be a victim so be sure to be extra careful especially in divulging information about yourself. The internet is one of the means by which identity thieves get hold of other people's personal information so be very careful in transacting business online. Make sure that you are dealing with a legitimate company and in filling up some online forms be sure to divulge only information that is required of you. Refrain from giving extra information about yourself.
If you ever receive mails that inform you about winning different things, just ignore them; what those people try to do is to gather information by making you fill a form with your personal data. Also, make sure that, if something happens to you, you will report it to the Federal Trade Commission to help protect other people by informing about any fraudulent mail.
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