Reporting identity fraud to the
proper authorities can help resolve your fraud problem faster. Identity fraud
is one of the growing problems in the online industry today. Businesses and
individuals have lost millions of dollars to this harmful scheme. This is the
reason that the government and private institutions are closely working
together to help reduce this figure and put a stop to identity fraud.
Identity fraud occurs when a
fraudster uses stolen information of another individual in order to acquire services,
goods, financial gain or other valuable
items. Fraudsters usually launch a
well orchestrated malicious scheme in order to stealthily acquire
information of their target victims. The aim of
these malicious schemes is to buy fraudsters enough time to take advantage of the victims 's information,
before the victim finds about the ongoing fraud and files a complaint to the proper authorities.
The only way you can immediately
stop fraudsters from taking advantage of your stolen information is by reporting
identity fraud to proper authorities. This is why it is crucial for you to know
where you can report identity fraud in case you become a victim of this fraud.
To give you some idea where to go when
reporting identity fraud, see details
below;
Reporting Identity Fraud
- FTC
Reporting identity fraud to FTC or the Federal Trade Commission is one of the primary steps you can
take. FTC offers a dedicated page for identity fraud victims where they can report
how their identity was stolen. This online fraud reporting platform contains
list of questions which you need to answer in order to provide crucial information about your case. After
you file a report, a copy of your complaint will provided to you along with a
recovery plan. You can use the copy of your report from the FTC when you file a formal complaint to your
local police station. The recovery plan on the other hand will teach you how
you can re-establish your identity after the
incident.
- IC3
Reporting identity fraud to IC3 or Internet Crime
Complaint Center is made easy and more accessible through the use of online complaint form provided on their
website. Like FTC's complaint form, the IC3 fraud reporting tool is also made up of questions that allows
you to detail the most important information about your identity fraud report.
Note that IC3 have no authority to
investigate or launch any form of recovery scheme. However, they have the power
to forward your complaint to local
authorities who have jurisdiction over your case, provided that your report contains substantial amount
of information that can give authorities a good
investigative starting point.
- Card Provider
Reporting identity fraud directly to
your card provider is probably the most
important step that
you should take in case of identity fraud.
This is because only your card provider can put an immediate stop to all
the transactions being conducted through your compromised account. Aside from
this, your card provider can also place an alert to all your other accounts
that may also be in danger of being taken over by the fraudster. The alert offers an additional security layer to all of
your accounts, meaning all of your card transactions will be carefully
monitored and verified to ensure that they are authorized transactions.
The details provided above are the top
institutions that you can go to when reporting identity fraud.