Payday Loans, The FTC, LPD & You – Pillars of Protection

The Defensive Side of Identity Theft. Part III

In the article “Identity Theft. Protecting Yourself From Your Evil Twin” the first part of this series called“The Defensive Side of Identity Theft”, we discussed the methods by which identity thieves use to steal your identity, and although there are many things we can do to limit this type of fraud, we cannot guarantee ourselves immunity from becoming a victim, and needing payday loans to pay for the spree of a felony committing pestilence.

Why Not?

Unfortunately some things are just outside of our control. There are hundreds of individuals who work with or have access to our private account information each day. Who exactly are these folks? The customer service representatives and employees of the companies whom we have accounts with.

These individuals have certainly been screened prior to employment by checking such things as credit reports and or background checks to limit the liability to us as consumers but unfortunately, there is a market out their for your personal information and mine which pays more than the hourly wages these employees could ever hope to see. We can’t underestimate the power of greed which can convert even the most promising and honest employees into embezzling crooks who may record, email or memorize account information for personal gain. Bribery, as mentioned earlier in this series, is also an issue. Someone of low integrity who comes to know the type of work these particular employees do, may find a way to bribe an employee for private information, and hopefully those that that get caught in these endeavors all get busted so hard no amount of payday loans will post their bail.

In part two“Fallen Victim To Identity Theft? What Now?” we discussed the importance of time when you have become a victim. The longer you wait or the longer it takes before you discover that you have been taken advantage of, the more time and money it will cost to repair the damage incurred, and you will hopefully not need any payday loans to repair the damage done by these twisted miscreants.

Hopefully by now you have taken advantage of obtaining your free credit report to check for discrepancies and or fraud. For more on free credit reports, see http://www.ftc.gov/bcp/conline/edcams/freereports/index.html and www.annualcreditreport.com.

If fraud has occurred you should have reported it to each of the three credit agency’s Equifax, Transunion, and Experian. There contact information and fraud hot lines were listed at the bottom of part two in this series.

The Next Step

Once you have made the initial fraud reports to the credit bureaus upon discovering that you are a victim, you have only begun your resurrection.

The smarter or perhaps we should say, less foolish credit thief’s tend to hit and run fairly quickly and then move on to the next victim so as not to provide a consistent trail with any one victim for authorities to follow. The persistently stubborn ones however will enjoy riding the cash cow, which is you by the way, until they get caught or you somehow manage to shut them down.

Let That Burning Anger Turn Cold. Put the Freeze On!

If the perpetrator is relentless in their pursuit to use your identity to obtain credit, You can implement a security freeze to reduce access to your credit file. As of November 2007, anyone who has become a victim of identity theft can freeze their accounts. Those who would like to initiate a freeze on their accounts for prevention purposes may do so also, but expect a small charge if you are not currently a victim. These fees may vary from state to state as well.

Initiating a freeze will prevent anyone from accessing your credit without your express permission. No new accounts can be opened or approved that require a credit check. This should for the most part stop a Identity thief in his tracks or at least discourage him or her enough to move on to the next victim, and if he gets caught well enough, the greatest of lawyers any amount of payday loans could secure won’t be enough to keep him out of the clink.

File a complaint with the Federal Trade Commission.

You will want to file a report with the Federal Trade Commission. This will contribute information to law enforcement agencies nationwide and help them in tracking down and stopping these criminals who are likely to be stealing other identities besides yours. You can include a printed copy of your online complaint with the FTC in your formal police report, which is your next course of action and is discussed below. But first, file your FTC complaint

FTC online complaint form can be found here: FTC online complaint form

Hotline: 1-877-ID-THEFT(438-4338): TTY: 1-866-653-4261

You may also write the FTC

Identity Theft Clearinghouse, Federal Trade Commission
600 Pennsylvania Avenue, NW,
Washington, DC 20580

If new incidents arise, be sure to update your complaint by calling the hot line listed above.

File a local Report With Federal Authorities

With all the head ache of obtaining a credit report, finding the offenses which have been committed against you, calling your creditors, issuing a fraud alert, and putting a freeze on your credit file, you must also file a report with local authorities. Typically this would be done at your local police station however depending upon the method of activity used to by the criminal in stealing your information you may have to file a report else where. This may include the Post Office if your situation involved the improper use of United States mail or your local Department of Motor Vehicles if your drivers license has been counterfeited or abused. Holding your offender responsible starts here.

If you ever want to see justice done you will want to fill out a complete and concise written report detailing the offenses made against you and give as much documented evidence as possible. You will want to report all fraudulent accounts and other details which may be pertinent in helping authorities to apprehend the perpetrator. Lastly, don’t forget to get a copy of the report which is appropriately called the “Identity Theft Report” under the FCRA.

The FCRA stands for the Fair Credit Reporting Act. This act is a federal law that gives consumers the right to see their credit records and correct any mistakes. You can view the full content of the Act in PDF format by going to Federal Trade Commissions website.

After filing your reports, you will be given a phone number for your investigator to whom you can report further activity as well as give to any creditors requiring proof of your case to make changes to your account.

Finally, Some Protection

The printed FTC ID Theft Complaint and local police report constitute an identity theft report and entitle you the victim to these protections as quoted off the Federal Trade Commissions website.

You can file a complaint with the FTC using the online complaint form; or call the FTC’s Identity Theft Hotline, toll-free: 1-877-ID-THEFT (438-4338); TTY: 1-866-653-4261; or write Identity Theft Clearinghouse, Federal Trade Commission, 600 Pennsylvania Avenue, NW, Washington, DC 20580. Be sure to call the Hotline to update your complaint if you have any additional information or problems.

This Identity Theft Report can be used to (1) permanently block fraudulent information from appearing on your credit report; (2) ensure that debts do not reappear on your credit report; (3) prevent a company from continuing to collect debts that result from identity theft; and (4) place an extended fraud alert on your credit report.

This process is undoubtedly long, frustrating and time consuming but absolutely essential to your protection. Face it head on. You CAN do it and protection WILL come but this tedious footwork is the foundation of your protection.

Stay tuned to part IV