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Identity theft can happen to anyone at any time, and unfortunately, it happens to many people. Knowing how to fix your credit if you are the victim of identity theft can help you recover more quickly and efficiently. If you experience identity theft at any time, follow these steps on your way to recovery.
Step 1: Initiate a Fraud Alert
A fraud alert is the mechanism by which you alert the credit reporting companies that your information has been stolen and your credit report has been compromised. Once a fraud alert is placed on your credit report, identity thieves will find it much harder to open up accounts in your name. To initiate a fraud alert, contact a credit reporting company. Contacting one company should be enough--once the fraud alert has been placed with one credit reporting company, that company should contact the other two credit reporting companies directly.
Step 2: Contact the Federal Trade Commission and the Police
Contact the Federal Trade Commission to initiate the Identity Theft Affidavit. Once this affidavit has been filed with the FTC, you'll need to take a copy to the police and file a police report about your identity theft.
Step 3: Dispute the Charges
Once you've filed a report with the credit reporting agencies and the police, then it's time to dispute illegal charges made in your name. You'll use your copy of the Identity Theft Affidavit and the police report to show your creditors that your identity has been stolen.
The road to clearing your credit may be a long one. You will need to contact every company, bank, or institution with which your identity thieves have opened accounts. These companies will appear on your credit report. You may either go to them directly, or contact national credit repair services to help you with this process. You'll want to contact a credit repair service if
Professional credit repair services can help you navigate the complex waters of credit repair. For more information about how national credit repair services can repair your credit, contact a service like Nationwide Credit Repairs.
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