Clearing Up Credit Fraud

What you should know:
In most cases, your liability when a thief steals your credit card and hits the mall is limited to $50 per card. (Some banks and card companies offer $0 liability—an even better deal.) To take advantage of this deal, though, you need to act promptly.

What you should do:
From the time you receive the credit card statement listing the fraudulent charge, you have 60 days to dispute that charge. This is true even if the thief changed your address and you never actually received the statement listing the $5,000 he spent on Elvis memorabilia—so keep track of your billing cycles! When you write to the credit card company, include your name, account number, and a detailed list of the fraudulent charges, including the date and the amount. Make sure you address the letter to the billing inquiry department, and—all together now—send it certified mail, return receipt requested. Don’t forget to include all relevant documentation.

What they have to do:
The credit card company has 30 days to let you know they received your letter, and must resolve the dispute within two billing cycles (90 days max).

What you should do then:
It’s important to get a letter from the credit card company which says that the charges were fraudulent and that they have been removed. Hang on to the original of this letter like it’s a winning lottery ticket—and include a copy whenever you write to credit bureaus or debt collectors. You’ll want to get the same kind of letter when you shut down bad credit accounts that the thief opened in your name.

Identity Theft Solutions – Shut Down All Compromised Accounts

This means you pull the plug on both types of accounts—your old accounts the thief was misusing, plus any new accounts the thief opened in your name. Don’t forget that this could include credit card companies or service providers like your phone, ISP, or utilities. When you reopen your accounts, make sure you have a new account number, and guard it with a new password. (Use something only you could know—which is kind of the point of a password.) You can protect your rep by asking the creditor to classify the old account as “closed at customer’s request.” The other option—”Card lost or stolen”—can make you look careless, even though we know it wasn’t your fault.

If your ATM or debit card was stolen, the procedure is pretty much the same. Report the theft ASAP, cancel the card, and get a new card with a new PIN. If the identity thief stole checks, call the bank and stop payment on any outstanding checks you didn’t write. Then contact the check verification services so they can tell their retailers not to accept checks from the thief.

Closing accounts that were yours to begin with is pretty easy. The hard part is getting rid of the charges that you didn’t make, and closing accounts you didn’t ever open. Ask to speak to the fraud department of the bank, retailer, or credit card company. and find out what forms you need to dispute fraudulent charges and accounts. You may be able to use the ID Theft Affidavit—a standard form available online. Or you may need to use the company’s own forms. For now, go on record about everything you are disputing, and have the forms you need sent to you. Be sure to follow these calls up in writing to make things extra-official. If you’re dealing with a new account. get as much documentation about it as you can, such as a copy of the application used to open the account and transactions records.

If the creditor won’t give up the goods on your thief’s account. its probably because of their security policy—take a moment to laugh at the irony. Then keep trying. Getting the cops involved, or at least getting a police report, can help.

Identity Theft 101

Identity theft, that nasty crime in which someone obtains and uses your personal information to commit fraud or theft, is the fastest growing criminal activity in the U.S. And it could be coming soon to a bank account near you!

You’ve probably heard about the most common forms of identity theft—when a thief tracks down your credit card numbers, and then uses them to max out your accounts. That kind of theft—the stolen credit card variety—is fairly easy to notice and fix.

Things get more complicated, though, when a thief steals your SSN from records at your job and uses it to apply for a mortgage or car loan. Cases like this are hard to detect and often even harder to resolve.

The problem is that all the techno-marvels we take for granted often help to serve up our identities on a silver platter to clever, techno-savvy thieves. For example, it’s great to be able to shop online, but your electronic transaction may give a hacker access to your credit card number.

And while preapproved credit applications make it easier for you to get a card, they also make it a breeze for an imposter to get credit using your name. Your personal information is available in more places than you may even realize—and it presents thieves with the perfect opportunities to make some quick cash.