If you are a victim

If you suspect that someone has used your name, Social Security number, or other personal information to get credit or a loan, the following information can help you.  The Clinton Township Police wish to provide you with the proper information to minimize the damage to your credit and protect you from future attempts of fraud.

How to Restore Your Good Name

Keep a record. Because recovering from identity theft can be a long and complicated process, it's important to keep a record of all communications. Send all letters by certified mail and keep copies. If you think your case might lead to a lawsuit, keep track of how much time you spend dealing with the problem.

Call the police. Report the crime to the police or sheriff's department that has jurisdiction in your case and request a police report. Though the authorities are often unable to assist you, a report may be necessary to help convince creditors that someone else has opened an account in your name.  Also call the Michigan Attorney General’s Consumer Protection Hotline (517) 373-1110 or http://www.michigan.gov/ag/ .

Contact the Federal Trade Commission. Call the FTC's identity theft hotline at (877)438-4338 and file a complaint. The FTC does not resolve individual consumer problems itself, but your complaint may lead to law enforcement action.  Or contact on-line at: www.ftc.com

Check your credit report. Get your credit report and check for inquiries that you do not recognize and any new accounts opened in your name. Because new accounts may take up to six months to show up on the report, continue to monitor your credit report. Get a free credit report and see your credit history as reported by the three major credit-reporting agencies.  The site for free credit reports is www.annualcreditreport.com .

Contact the three Credit Reporting Agencies. Have one of the agencies put a fraud alert on your file, which will aid in preventing new credit accounts from being opened without your express permission.

Fraud Alerts. You may place an initial 90-day alert by calling any one of the three nationwide credit-reporting companies. You may place an extended 7 year alert by writing to one of the nationwide credit reporting companies and providing an Identity Theft Report as well as a day and evening telephone number. The requirements for an Identity Theft Report are listed on the FTC's website listed above. The extended alert removes your name from pre-screened offers of credit for 5 years. You will receive a confirmation when an alert is added to your credit file.

Active Duty Alert. You may request an active duty alert, which will remain on your file for 12 months, by calling any one of the nationwide credit reporting companies. This alert removes your name from pre-screened offers of credit for 2 years. You will receive a confirmation when an alert is added to your credit file.

Sharing of Alerts. The nationwide credit reporting company that accepts your request for a Fraud or Active Duty alert will share your request with the other two nationwide credit-reporting companies, which will add the alert to your file or request that you provide them additional information.

Freeze fraudulent accounts. Contact the appropriate creditors, banks, phone companies, and utility companies and have them freeze the accounts. You'll probably be liable for only $50 of the fraudulent charges, but different issuers have different policies. Most creditors promptly issue replacement cards with new account numbers.

You may also need to contact one or more of the following government bodies, each of which will inform you of the necessary procedures.

Mail fraud
If you suspect that someone has changed your address with the post office or used the mail to commit identity theft, notify the US Postal Inspector.

Fraud using your Social Security number
If your Social Security number has been used to commit identity theft, call the Social Security Administration at 800-772-1213. You can order a copy of your earnings and benefits statement to check whether someone has used your Social Security number to get a job or to avoid paying taxes.  Social Security Administration's Fraud Hotline
800-269-0271.  http://www.ssa.gov/

Fraud involving your driver's license number
If your driver's license number has been used to open accounts or verify checks, contact your state's Department of Motor Vehicles.  http://www.michigan.gov/sos/

Fraud involving your passport
Notify the U.S. State Department's Passport Services Department of the identity theft so that it can intercept anyone ordering a new passport in your name.

Fraud involving a business scam
If the fraud was perpetrated as part of a business scam, contact the National Fraud Information Center at 800-876-7060.

Bankruptcy filed using your name
If someone filed for bankruptcy using your name, write to the U.S. Trustee in the region where the bankruptcy was filed. A listing of the U.S. Trustee Program's Regions can be found at www.usdoj.gov/ust, or look in the blue pages of your phone book under US Government: Bankruptcy Administration. Your letter should describe the situation and provide proof of your identity.

Remedying the Effects of Identity Theft

The Fair Credit Reporting Act (FCRA) gives you specific rights when you are, or believe

that you are, the victim of identity theft.  Here is a brief summary of the rights designed to help you recover from identity theft.

1. You have the right to ask that nationwide consumer reporting agencies place “fraud alerts” in your file to let potential creditors and others know that you may be a victim of identity theft.  A fraud alert can make it more difficult for someone to get credit in your name because it tells creditors to follow certain procedures to protect you.  It also may delay your ability to obtain credit.  You may place a fraud alert in your file by calling just one of the three nationwide consumer-reporting agencies.  As soon as that agency processes your fraud alert, it will notify the other two, which then also must place fraud alerts in your file.

Equifax: 1-800-525-6285; http://www.equifax.com/

Experian: 1-888-EXPERIAN (397-3742); http://www.experian.com/

TransUnion: 1-800-680-7289; http://www.transunion.com/

An initial fraud alert stays in your file for at least 90 days.  An extended alert stays in your file for seven years.  To place either of these alerts, a consumer-reporting agency will require you to provide appropriate proof of your identity, which may include your Social Security number.  If you ask for an extended alert, you will have to provide an identity theft report. An identity theft report includes a copy of a report you have filed with a federal, state, or local law enforcement agency, and additional information a consumer-reporting agency may require you to submit. For more detailed information about the identity theft report, visit http://www.consumer.gov/idtheft.

2. You have the right to free copies of the information in your file (your “file

disclosure”).  An initial fraud alert entitles you to a copy of all the information in your

file at each of the three nationwide agencies, and an extended alert entitles you to two free file disclosures in a 12-month period following the placing of the alert.  These additional disclosures may help you detect signs of fraud, for example, whether fraudulent accounts have been opened in your name or whether someone has reported a change in your address.  Once a year, you also have the right to a free copy of the information in your file at any consumer-reporting agency, if you believe it has inaccurate information due to fraud, such as identity theft.  You also have the ability to obtain additional free file disclosures under other provisions of the FCRA.  See http://www.ftc.gov/credit.

3. You have the right to obtain documents relating to fraudulent transactions made or accounts opened using your personal information.  A creditor or other business must give you copies of applications and other business records relating to transactions and accounts that resulted from the theft of your identity, if you ask for them in writing.  A business may ask you for proof of your identity, a police report, and an affidavit before

giving you the documents.  It also may specify an address for you to send your request. 

Under certain circumstances, a business can refuse to provide you with these documents.

4. You have the right to obtain information from a debt collector.  If you ask, a debt

collector must provide you with certain information about the debt you believe was

incurred in your name by an identity thief – like the name of the creditor and the amount

of the debt.

5. If you believe information in your file results from identity theft, you have the right to ask that a consumer-reporting agency block that information from your file.  An identity thief may run up bills in your name and not pay them. Information about the

unpaid bills may appear on your consumer report.  Should you decide to ask a consumer

reporting agency to block the reporting of this information, you must identify the

information to block, and provide the consumer reporting agency with proof of your

identity and a copy of your identity theft report.  The consumer-reporting agency can

refuse or cancel your request for a block if, for example, you don’t provide the necessary

documentation, or where the block results from an error or a material misrepresentation

of fact made by you.  If the agency declines or rescinds the block, it must notify you. 

Once a debt resulting from identity theft has been blocked, a person or business with

notice of the block may not sell, transfer, or place the debt for collection.

6. You also may prevent businesses from reporting information about you to consumer reporting agencies if you believe the information is a result of identity theft.  To do so, you must send your request to the address specified by the business that reports the information to the consumer-reporting agency.  The business will expect you to identify what information you do not want reported and to provide an identity theft report.  To learn more about identity theft and how to deal with its consequences, visit

http://www.consumer.gov/idtheft, or write to the FTC.  You may have additional rights under state law.

In addition to the new rights and procedures to help consumers deal with the effects of

identity theft, the FCRA has many other important consumer protections. They are described in more detail at www.ftc.gov/credit.