Protect Your Identity

You can file a complaint with the FTC using the online ID Theft Complaint Form; you can call the FTC’s Identity Theft Hotline, toll-free: 1-877-ID-THEFT (438-4338); TTY: 1-866-653-4261; or you can write to the Identity Theft Clearinghouse, Federal Trade Commission, 600 Pennsylvania Avenue, NW, Washington, DC 20580. A printed version of your complaint is available only if you file your complaint online.

Please do not send the FTC your printed ID Theft Complaint Form, ID Theft Affidavit, police report, credit reports, financial information, or any other documents relating to your case. The FTC does not keep these materials on file or forward them to law enforcement agencies. If a law enforcement agency decides to open an investigation on your case, they will contact you directly and let you know what documents they need.

The ID Theft Complaint Form is used by consumers online to file a complaint with the FTC. The FTC makes the ID Theft Complaints we receive from victims available to other federal, state and local law enforcement officials nationwide. The printed ID Theft Complaint can be used in conjunction with a police report to create an Identity Theft Report that will help you recover more quickly.

The Identity Theft Report is a detailed police report that gives enough information about the crime for the credit reporting companies and the businesses involved to verify that you’re a victim of ID theft. When you file your Identity Theft Report with the credit reporting companies or creditors, you get several important legal protections that will help you recover from ID theft. However, the credit reporting companies and businesses can decline your Identity Theft Report if it does not contain enough detail.

The ID Theft Affidavit is a less detailed version of an Identity Theft Report. If you request copies of applications or transaction documents related to your ID theft from companies that opened fraudulent accounts for the thief, they may require you to give them an ID Theft Affidavit and a police report before they give the records to you. And, if you don’t want to file a police report, you can use an ID Theft Affidavit instead of an Identity Theft Report to request that companies remove your responsibility for debts where an identity thief opened a new account in your name. However, an ID Theft Affidavit doesn’t give you as many legal rights as you get with an Identity Theft Report.

via www.ftc.gov