Finding Peace after Identity Theft

When a person fall victim of identity theft, rarely do they find peace thereafter. Victims of identity theft often struggle with paperwork, reports, credit reports, courts, police and the list goes on. The person will labor hours throughout a week to restore his or her life, and rarely is any help available.

Victims of identity theft have gone to jail for crimes they did not commit, and have been summon to court for debts they had nothing to do with. The victim is often rejected when applying for jobs or credit lines, and often goes through life feeling like a target of persecution. Identity theft victims feel angry and the anger burns deeper when the law makes little effort to apprehend the criminal, and the anger grows when the creditors assume that the perpetrator is the victim and trying to avoid paying his or her debts.

Credit bureaus place Fraud Alerts on consumers credit reports, which rises assumption in creditors rather than help the victim. The fraud alerts read as follow: #HK ID Fraud Victim Alert:" A message from the victim follows: Your identity is possibly being used by someone other side of your self to fraudulently make purchases and/or open accounts, et cetera. Be advised that the perpetrator may open accounts, apply for jobs or credit cards and even commit crimes in your name. We recommend placing an alert on your reports to avoid extending of future credit without notifying you first.

As you can see this does nothing for the victim, since it states, "may have been used." When perpetrators of identity theft utilizes the victims identity to purchase goods or services, or open accounts in the victims name, thus any delinquencies or judgments are placed on the victims report and not removed. An example of one dispute can be seen as follow: "US BKPT CT" Deleted. Thus, this particular deletion on a credit file is a bankruptcy where the victim of identity theft disputed. The victim had never gone to court in their life for bankruptcy and when an investigation was conducted, it was found the victim was telling the truth. Still, the bankruptcy was not removed from the reports; rather it stated Deleted and the information above, which could mean anything to creditors, who fail to, remember that a fraudulent alert is up above the deletion. Creditors often assume that the victim is claiming identity theft to get out of debts owed.

Thus, in this article I am going to link you to resources to help you in the event your identity is stolen. One of the first sources you will need to contact if you become victim of identity theft is, the Federal Trade Commission (FTC), followed by Identity Theft Data Clearinghouse. Furthermore, you will need to contact the Office of the Comptroller of the Currency Compliance Management, Federal Reserve Board, Office of Thrift Supervision Consumer Programs; National Credit Union Administration, Federal Deposit Insurance Corporation Division of Compliance & Consumer Affairs, Department of Transportation Office of Financial Management, and Department of Agriculture Office of Deputy Administration.

The Federal Trade Commission can provide you visions of your rights if you are victimized by an identity thief. The Identity Theft Data Clearinghouse will provide you facts and steps for reporting the crime. The Office of the Comptroller of the Currency Compliance Management is the nation wide Banks and Federal Branches that service foreigners and Americans. The Federal Reserve Board Division & Community Affairs will provide foreign and Americans information and link them to resources to help them fight to restore their identity. The Department of Transportation Office of Financial Management services the grounds, air, railroads, and so forth, thus the alert will let them know that someone has control of your information and could help you out. Thus, one victim was not aware that she should have reported identity theft to this source and when the woman applied for an ID, it took an hour since traces indicated that someone attempted to change her name.

Finally, the Department of Agriculture Office of Deputy Administrator (GIPSA) will set up an alert also, that may help you out when applying for a job.