How To Fight Debt Acquired Through Identity Theft
We know that identity theft is deceptive, hard to spot, and no doubt sucks. If you store more information online about you, the threat of identity theft increases.
What the FTC says, nine million Americans lose their identities each year. As a result, the victims pay $631 for legal fees and misappropriation of their false debt. Though the victims are not obliged to pay the money that was incurred through identity theft, they pay it and further spent time toward repairing their credit worthiness. Remember, if you become responsible for debt accrued through identity theft, you must not pay for a criminal’ debt.
Preventing and Detecting Identity Theft
Before knowing how to get rid of your fraudulent debt, it is more important to know how to prevent identity theft. Since there are lots of breaches that the hackers can see, you need to know many things to protect yourself:
* Immediately sign the backs of credit cards once you get
* Never carry your social security number or card with you while traveling
* Never reveal your personal information to strangers
* Be careful about links in unsolicited emails
* Never make use of a single password for all your accounts
* Immediately report theft or loss of important objects like passport, license, etc.
Make sure you always check your credit card and bank statements thoroughly. Find out if there is any illegitimate transaction on your account. Further, check your annual credit report with utmost care. To order a free annual report, go to AnnualCreditReport.com or call toll-free to 877-322-8228.
Preventing Identity Theft and Fraudulent Debt
Once you realize you that have become a victim of identity theft, immediately report that to the three top credit reporting agencies and file a “Fraud Alert”. This will alert your creditors to immediately take security measures against any fraudulent activities.
After filing a “Fraud Alert”, you must do the following:
* Ask consumer reporting companies to block fraudulent information
* Immediately reach the security and fraud departments of companies where an account was opened
* Send them documents to support your allegation including the identity theft affidavit * File a report with your local police
* Report the fraud to the FTC
Fortunately, the FTC maintains a very useful “tools for victims” site, where a victim can receive help from sample letters, directions, and even from charts, which victims can print to know what is left to be done.
