subject: Report ID Theft Quickly To Protect Your Credit [print this page] Report ID Theft Quickly To Protect Your Credit
These days, it seems like identity thieves are everywhere. In fact, according to the Federal Trade Commission (FTC) numbers for 2009, over a quarter of a million people fell victim to some sort of identity theft scam. But if you can report ID theft quickly, you can protect yourself at least a bit and try to minimize the damage.
You see, it is not unusual to hear that those who report ID theft often find themselves in trouble with creditors. In fact, some even find themselves in trouble with law enforcement officials or the IRS.
Through no fault of your own, you can just wake up one day, be broke and potentially accused of being a criminal. This is why reporting ID theft isn't the only important thing you must do.
You also have to make sure that you report the crime in the proper way. You can, of course, report ID theft to the police.However, you can't stop there.
Unfortunately, a simple police report won't protect you, catch the thieves or restore your credit. That's just one link in the long chain of things that you need to do and people that you need to contact.
While you talk to law enforcement officials, one of the best things to do is to ask if you can report ID theft in an official identity theft report. This special report can be a much more detailed list of what occurred than just a regular police report.
Also, when you report ID theft this way, you can send copies of the report to creditors and other people involved. The next big step in the process is to contact the FTC. The Federal Trade Commission monitors acts like identity theft. Accurate reports to them are vital. With the information you provide, they can alert other people to new ID theft schemes and help to put ID thieves out of business.
Finally, you need to report ID theft instances to the major credit bureaus. Giving them a copy of the ID theft report will help them to correct your credit history. They can take any instances of ID theft off of your permanent credit record and restore your credit score.
So as you can see, you have to report ID theft thoroughly and in a timely manner. It takes some time to clean up the mess left by identity theft criminals. If you become a victim, start trying to sort things out as quickly as possible.
