If you have been the victim of credit card identity theft and you need to restore your credit rating
because you have had your credit card or credit card details actually stolen, or because someone has
applied for and received a credit card using your name and social security number, you may be at a loss
as to where to begin.
If you have been the victim of credit card identity theft and you need to restore your credit rating
because you have had your credit card or credit card details actually stolen, or because someone has
applied for and received a credit card using your name and social security number, you may be at a loss
as to where to begin.
First, you can take pre-emptive measures against identity theft as soon as you receive a new credit
card. You should photocopy both sides of all your credit cards so that as soon as one of them is lost or
stolen you will be able to report that it is missing and have that card account closed.
Second, you should never carry any credit cards which you do not intend to use, and you should have
only the number of credit cards that you absolutely need.
As soon as you realize that your credit card is missing, or that there are unexplained charges on your
monthly statement, you will have to assume that you are a target of credit card identity theft, and to
restore your credit rating you need to stop the missing or compromised cards.
If someone has obtained your name and social security number, perhaps through mail theft, and used
them to open a credit card account, you will also be a victim of credit card theft and need to restore
your credit rating. But you won't know that you have been victimized until the credit card company which
issued the fraudulent card actually starts contacting you about the payments which the thief has
undoubtedly failed to make.
You'll need to prove that you have never lived at the address which the scammer provided, and that all
of the other personal details that person provided are not yours. Experiencing this sort of credit card
identity theft and having to restore your credit rating can be a very time-consuming, frustrating
experience, but it's important that throughout the process you continue to maintain the payments on your
legitimate obligations.
Contact The Credit Reporting Agencies
As soon as you think you have fallen prey to credit card identity theft you can start to restore your credit rating by contacting
the three credit reporting agencies, Experian, TransUnion, and Equifax, and asking them to place fraud
alerts on all your credit reports. A fraud alert will be an obstacle to anyone who attempts to use
your information to establish a new line of credit.
Contact the FTC And Police
You should notify and file a formal complaint with both the Federal Trade Commission, and the police in
the jurisdiction where the credit card identity theft occurred, providing the police with a copy of your
FTC complaint.
Taking these steps when you have been a victim of credit card identity theft and are trying to restore
your credit rating will put you in a much stronger position to prevent whoever has victimized you from
doing too much damage.
