This information is provided to those who believe they have become victims of Identity Theft and Credit Fraud. It is also useful information in the prevention of these type crimes. It is essential that prompt action be taken to prevent substantial personal and financial loss. It is also recommended that checks of your credit report be made periodically to insure that one's credit history has not already been compromised.

Resources / Victim Assistance

The FTC reports that Identity Theft In the U.S., for the year 2000, claimed 900,000 individual victims, each with the potential for multiple instances of Fraudulent Use of Credit Card. There is a great unreported number as well of those who never filed a complaint due to lack of understanding. The below resources are provided in order to assist in combating this crime.

www.identitytheft.org

Federal Trade Commission's Consumer Sentinel Centralized ID Theft Repository: www.consumer.gov/sentinel/

Victims Assistance sites:

ID Theft affidavit, which provides a standardized document for the reporting of this crime: (Adobe Acrobat version) http://www.transunion.com/Documents/FTC_ID_affidavit.pdf

US Government's centralized site for ID Theft information: www.consumer.gov/idtheft/affidavit.htm

FTC's On-line Complaint Form: https://rn.ftc.gov/dod/widtpubl$.startup?Z_ORG_CODE=PU03

Federal Bureau of Investigation's Internet Complaint Site: www1.ifccfbi.gov/index.asp

Federal Consumer Information center: www.pueblo.gsa.gov/cic_text/money/credit-report/rscredit.htm

Report Crime to Police:

Victims should report the crime to their state or local police department. Victims should provide all information, which may reveal the manner in which the identity was unlawfully obtained, and describe any known fraudulent activity.

Report Crime to Credit Card Companies:

Victims should contact their credit card companies to report unauthorized purchases and/or unauthorized account activity, which is using your information.

Report Crime to Consumer Reporting Agencies / Credit Bureaus (CRA)

To protect a person's consumer credit report, each of the below Credit Reporting Agencies (CRA) must be notified upon suspicion or confirmation of Fraud to include ID Theft. A fraud "flag" should be placed on each consumer credit report. Please be aware that each of the major CSRs accept the ID Theft Affidavit (www.consumer.gov/idtheft/affidavit.htm) found on the FTC's web site. Ask the credit bureaus to add a fraud statement to your file, which requires any potential creditor to contact you before approving any credit applications in your name.

Equifax

Office of Fraud Alert, P.O. Box 105069, Atlanta, GA 30348. 1-800-525-6285 for the reporting of fraud www.equifax.com 1-800-685-1111 for credit reports

Experian

Consumer Fraud Assistance, P.O. Box 1017, Allen, TX 75013 1-888-EXPERIAN for the reporting of fraud http://www.experian.com/consumer/index.html (go to Fraud Center) 1-888-EXPERIAN (397-3742) for credit reports

Trans Union

760 Sproul Road, P.O. Box 390, Springfield, PA 19064-0390 1-800-680-7289 for the reporting of fraud 1-714-447-6034 for the reporting of fraud via fax http://www.transunion.com/content/page.jsp?id=/personalsolutions/general/data/FraudInformation.xml 1-800-916-8800 for credit reports

Identity Theft Prevention

888-5OPTOUT ( 888-567-8688) Opt Out for pre-approved cards for Opt Out for pre-approved cards Distribution

Contact Detective Filsinger, Weston PD: (203) 222-2639