How to Clean Up your Credit When Someone Else Ruined It

If you suspect you are a victim of identity theft or if you know you are, what should you do? Identity-theft victims don’t make the mess. But they do have to clean it up. There’s no one who can do it other than the consumer whose credit was ruined by someone else. New initiatives can help identity-theft victims start the long process of proving to creditors, collection agencies and law enforcement officials that they are who they say they are. But the burden of proof still rests squarely on victims’ shoulders. First, alert the police in your city.

You may also need to report the crime to the police departments where the crime occurred. Make sure the police report lists all fraud accounts. Give as much documented information as possible. Get a copy of the report and send it to the creditors and the credit-reporting agencies as proof of the crime. Keep the phone number of your police investigator handy.

Typically identity theft falls into three categories: Financial identity theft: This most commonly occurs when the Social Security number (SSN) and name is used to establish new lines of credit. Criminal identity theft: This typically occurs when a person “borrows” the information of the minor to get a driver’s license. This person may be an illegal immigrant who bought the information or a relative who has had a license suspended or revoked. Identity Cloning: Most frequently, profilers have people in positions where they are able to collect information about minors and then sell it on the black market. The most frequent purchasers of this information, in our experience, are illegal immigrants or people who are trying to “restart” their lives and avoid arrest. It is also an open door to terrorists.

The Federal Trade Commission provides standardized fraud declaration reports that victims can file with banks and creditors. Instead of filling out a separate fraud packet for each creditor, victims fill out a single fraud declaration and send signed copies to each creditor.

The ID Theft Affidavit is most valuable when a new account has been opened in the victim’s name. The FTC advises victims to contact each of their creditors to verify that they will accept this form. Most do, but some companies will require more or different forms. This initiative could save victims time and quite a few headaches. When a consumer disputes information on a credit report, the credit agency contacts the creditor and passes along the consumer complaint. The creditor then checks its records and decides whether the data it furnished to the credit agency is correct. If the creditor stands by its information, the data stays on the consumer’s credit report.

The nation’s three credit-reporting agencies have streamlined the fraud alert process. Once an identity-theft victim calls any one of the three credit-reporting agencies, Trans Union, Equifax or Experian, that agency will contact the other two. The toll-free call will automatically trigger a fraud alert to be placed on the victim’s credit report at each agency within 24 hours. In addition, the victim will be automatically opted out of preapproved offers of credit and insurance for two years, and upon request, receive free copies of their credit report from each agency within three business days.

A fraud alert asks future creditors to contact the victim before any new credit is approved. The purpose of these alerts is to help prevent an impostor from applying for and receiving more credit in a victim’s name.

Needing to make just one call helps victims to be able to act quickly when fraud strikes. No more maneuvering their way through the voice mail systems of the three major credit agencies, each with a separate process for reporting fraud. No more waiting weeks for a credit report to arrive.

Identity-theft victims are urged to contact creditors on their own. Creditors receive heaps of consumer disputes from credit agencies every month. Mixed in with complaints from identity-theft and fraud victims are protests from folks contesting negative, but accurate, credit information. The best way for fraud victims to stand out amid all these disputes is to contact creditors individually. Unfortunately, there’s no way to “make” a creditor or a collection agency believe an identity-theft victim.

There also doesn’t seem to be a way to make creditors heed the fraud alerts that victims place on their credit reports. A fraud alert is supposed to stop a creditor from granting more credit to an impostor. But an alert will only work if a creditor takes the time to read it. This doesn’t always happen. Plus, some creditors grant credit without even pulling a person’s credit report.

So identity-theft victims end up monitoring their credit reports and disputing inaccurate information long after learning of the crime. It’s the only way to keep their credit reports clean.

Once you’re a victim, you’re a victim. You can’t undo that. It’s a matter of minimizing the damage.

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