How to Put a Fraud Alert on Your Credit Report

Placing an initial fraud report on your credit report requires you only to contact one of the three national credit reporting agencies.

If you have reason to suspect you are a victim of identity theft, placing a fraud alert on your credit reports with the three major credit bureaus is one of the most important things you can do. Placing a fraud alert does not require that you have proof of wrongdoing. Instead, it is a preventive measure you should take while you seek to establish that proof by filing a police report with your local jurisdiction. If your complaint involves cybercrime, you should also file a report with the Internet Crime Complaint Center.

Instructions

1. Contact TransUnion, Experian, or Equifax (the three national credit reporting agencies) via phone or online to request an initial 90-day fraud alert. Contact only one of these agencies; each of them is required by law to notify the other two in a timely fashion, so you do not need to notify all three yourself.

2. Provide the requested information that your selected national credit reporting agency needs to verify your identity. Have your Social Security number, current address, former address (if you have moved in the past two years), and date of birth handy.

3. Obtain an Identity Theft Report, such as the one available from the Federal Trade Commission's website. Ask the police officer who assists you in filing a report with your local police station to fill it out as well for your records.

4. File your Identity Theft Report with the three national credit reporting agencies. By filing this report, you ensure that you are not stuck paying for debts incurred by identity theft and also that fradulent debts do not reappear on your reports in the future.

5. Place an extended fraud alert with the three national credit reporting agencies if you want extra protection. Note that you can only place an extended fraud alert after having filed an Identity Theft Report.

Tips & Warnings

• Identity Theft Reports provide the specific information the credit bureaus and your creditors will need to know which activity is fradulent. According to the FTC, many standard police reports may not provide spaces to record information such as account numbers and specifics, which is vital to recognizing this kind of fraud.

• An extended fraud alert lasts for seven years. When you have an extended fraud alert on your credit reports, potential creditors must contact you and/or speak to you in person before extending credit based on applications filed with your information.

References

• Federal Trade Commission: Recover from Identity Theft
• Social Security Administration: Identity Theft and Your Social Security Number
• State of Hawaii Department of the Attorney General: ID Theft Alert

Resources

• Internet Crime Complaint Center
• Equifax: Initial 90-Day Fraud Alert Request Form
• Experian: Credit Fraud Protection
• TransUnion: Fraud Alert