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What do I do if I Am a Fraud Victim?

Katharine Swan
Katharine Swan

Consumer fraud has become quite common in recent years, made easier by the Internet, the growing number of bank and credit card accounts that are accessible online, and advances in spyware technology. Luckily, if you are a fraud victim you can report the problem, protect your accounts, and help the authorities to investigate fraud.

There are two very important things you will need to do if you are a fraud victim. The first is to report the fraudulent activity to your local police department. The police department will have you fill out a report, which will help with their investigation. You will also need to request a copy of the report for your own records.

Credit card fraud is one of the most common problems facing consumers in the world today.
Credit card fraud is one of the most common problems facing consumers in the world today.

The other thing you need to do if you are a fraud victim is to report the fraud to the major credit reporting bureaus; in the US, these are Equifax, Experian, and TransUnion. You should file a fraud alert with each, which will significantly reduce further fraud by requiring that companies call you to verify your identity before issuing credit to anyone using your name and information. Although this will make a few more hoops for you to jump through if you legitimately want to open a new line of credit, it will also make it impossible for the thief to continue using your identity and ruining your credit history.

When a person tries to use a check from another individual to collect funds from a checking account, it is known as checking account fraud.
When a person tries to use a check from another individual to collect funds from a checking account, it is known as checking account fraud.

When a fraud victim files a fraud alert with the credit bureaus in the US, he or she will have a choice between two different types of fraud alerts. One is a temporary 90-day alert that you will have to call and renew every three months for as long as you want it to remain on your credit report. The other is a more permanent, seven-year alert that you will need to request in writing. It is important to request the fraud alert with each of the three credit bureaus, because although they do share information with one another, there is often a communication delay. Additionally, there have been many cases of the credit bureaus not communicating information accurately with one another, so calling or writing to each of the credit bureaus yourself is simply good protection.

Saving receipts to compare with account information can help people stay aware of unusual account activities.
Saving receipts to compare with account information can help people stay aware of unusual account activities.

Both of these reports are equally important. Your report to the local authorities enables them to investigate the fraud and hopefully catch the thief, while setting up a fraud alert on your credit reports contains the problem and minimizes the damage done to your credit. You will also need to review your credit report, identify any fraudulent activity, and contact the credit bureaus and creditors in writing to have it removed.

Whether or not you have been a fraud victim, you might want to take certain precautions in order to prevent thieves from getting hold of your personal information. One way is to be sure you have passwords on all of your financial accounts — other than your mother's maiden name, as that is too easy to guess and the information is too available to scammers. Your passwords should also be different with each account — often thieves will hack less secure websites to gain usernames and passwords, and then try those on financial websites.

Another way to protect yourself is to be sure you know how to recognize a scam. There are many online scams that attempt to gather personal information so that the scammer can steal your identity. Phishing emails and fake sign-in pages are common, so make sure you always sign into your account from the main website and not from a link you followed from an email or another web page.

Once you have been a fraud victim, you will need to pay close attention to your credit report and work with the authorities in order to repair your credit and prevent any further fraudulent activity. If you have been a fraud victim once, you may want to subscribe to a paid identity protection service to give you a level of protection that you cannot get yourself without putting a lot of time and effort into it.

Discussion Comments

fify

Reporting fraud to credit bureaus and local law enforcement are obviously important, but I think that reporting to the right government agencies and commissions is just as important.

My friend works at the Federal Trade Commission and they have databases there that collect information on fraud and also share it with different law enforcement agencies. It sounds like it's just for research but it's not. My friend said that many investigations have been started based on this information leading to prosecutions.

Fraud victims already have to do so many things after to protect themselves and clean up their credit report. But they should really take the time to do this because this is the only way that fraud can be prevented large scale. I don't think it's enough for us to take preventive measures for ourselves, we should help the government as much as we can so that other people don't have to experience the same things.

Now, I do think that the system is not efficient. If all of these agencies and commissions worked together and shared information well, it would have been enough for us to contact just one agency. Unfortunately, bureaucracy doesn't let things work that way. So it's up to us individual citizens to help each other out by contacting every agency and commission that can benefit from information on fraud incidents. That's my personal view anyway.

discographer

What I did immediately after I realized my bank account information was jeopardized was to first review all of my bank statements and then to request my credit report.

I found several different charges on my online statement that I didn't recognize and called up my bank right away. They took the charge off my account in a couple of days. About a week later, there was another charge and several more in the next few days. It was a really frustrating experience to keep calling the bank every time I saw a charge. I had to keep an eye on my account for several weeks.

Finally, the bank decided to close down my account and gave me new one. I also checked my credit report to see if there was anything there that I didn't know about. I think I was lucky because the criminal didn't go further than using my credit card number for online purchases, all of which I was refunded by the bank. It was still a scary and unpleasant experience.

Now I'm really wary about the sites I visit and purchases I make online. I never give information out to sites that don't have a padlock symbol. I only shop from well known sites and use an online paying system where my information is secure.

SteamLouis

My boyfriend is an identity theft victim and he insisted for me to take some precautions so that the same thing doesn't happen to me.

I opened an account with one of the credit agencies and set up a password with them. Once I did this, anytime I wanted to open a new bank account, they asked me for this password. So if someone were to try and open an account with my name, they wouldn't be able to. It's actually a great way to prevent fraud in the first place. And it is much easier than having to deal with all of the credit issues of fraud after it has happened.

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    • Credit card fraud is one of the most common problems facing consumers in the world today.
      By: sleep24Photo
      Credit card fraud is one of the most common problems facing consumers in the world today.
    • When a person tries to use a check from another individual to collect funds from a checking account, it is known as checking account fraud.
      By: Pixel Embargo
      When a person tries to use a check from another individual to collect funds from a checking account, it is known as checking account fraud.
    • Saving receipts to compare with account information can help people stay aware of unusual account activities.
      By: Odua Images
      Saving receipts to compare with account information can help people stay aware of unusual account activities.