Credit Reporting Bureaus/Accessing Credit Reports

• Annual Credit Report Request Service
  P.O. Box 105281, Atlanta, GA 30348-5281
  877-322-8228
  www.annualcreditreport.com

• Experian
  P.O. Box 2104, Allen, TX 75013-2104
  To order your report (888) 397-3742
  To report fraud (888) 397-3742
  www.experian.com

• TransUnion
  P.O. Box 1000, Chester, PA 19022
  To order your report (800) 888-4213
  To report fraud (800) 680-7289
  www.transunion.com

• Equifax
  P.O. Box 740241, Atlanta, GA 30374
  To order your report (800) 685-1111
  To report fraud (888) 766-0008
  www.equifax.com

Government Agencies

• U.S. Federal Trade Commission (FTC)
  The FTC oversees the operation of credit bureaus and provides assistance for identity theft victims.
  FTC Consumer Response Center
  877-ID-THEFT
  www.ftc.gov
  FTC Identity Theft Affidavit Instructions and Form: www.ftccomplaintassistant.gov

  National Do Not Call Registry
  www.donotcall.gov/register/reg.aspx
  

• U.S. Postal Service
  For mail fraud issues, call the U.S. Post Office to obtain the phone number of the nearest Postal Inspector: 877-876-2455
  http://postalinspectors.uspis.gov
  
  
• U.S. Social Security Administration
  Report fraud: 800-269-0271
  To order your free Personal Earnings and Benefit Estimate Statement: 800-772-1213.
  www.ssa.gov

Checking Account Fraud

• If you are unable to open a checking account because of identity theft, contact:
  Chexsystems
  7805 Hudson Road, Suite 100, Woodbury, MN 55125
  www.consumerdebit.com
  800-428-9623
  
  
• If you are unable to write checks because of bad checks written in your name, contact:
  CrossCheck 707-586-0551
  Certegy 800-437-5120
  SCAN 800-262-7771
  TeleCheck 800-710-9898

Glossary of Terms

Account takeover – When an identity thief uses your personal information to convince a financial institution to give him or her full control of your account.

Affidavit of factual innocence – A legal document issued by a court, stating that you’re innocent. You may need one of these if you’ve been wrongfully arrested as a result of identity theft.

Affidavit of forgery – A legal document that states that a certain signature is not yours, but a forgery.

Check washing – A method identity thieves use to commit check fraud. They dip a check in acetone, which washes the ink off so they can write it for a higher amount.

Credit repair agency – A company that offers “cleanup” services to remove accurate information from your credit report. Often illegal and expensive, they are sometimes called credit clinics.

Credit reporting agency (CRA) – Commonly known as credit bureaus, they keep track of credit records, and issue credit reports to those who have a legitimate reason for accessing your credit history.

DL stop (driver license stop) – A DL stop is a system that puts a flag on your driver license in the Department of Motor Vehicle’s database, to show that your license has been lost or stolen.

Fraud alert – A fraud alert is put on your credit report at the CRAs if you become an identity theft victim. It lets potential creditors know that someone may be trying to obtain new credit in your name, so the process will be very closely scrutinized.

Permissible purposes – Guidelines set out in the FCRA that outline the allowable reasons for requesting a copy of a credit report. One of those reasons is if you’re a victim of identity theft.

Truncated credit card number – When all the digits of your credit or debit card number, except for the last four or five, are “x’d” out on a receipt or other document. This is done to protect you from identity theft.

Victim’s statement – A statement that is attached to your credit report when you think you may be a victim of identity theft. It asks creditors to contact you before opening any new credit accounts, or making any changes to existing ones.